The Father

Theme in “The Father”

In the story “The Father” the author   employs many literary terms. However in this story I believe the most important one is theme. Theme is controlling the idea or central insight to a piece of literature. In the father there are many symbolic phrases and names. For instance, when Thord named his son Finn, it wasn’t only because that was his father’s name, but because it foreshadowed Finn’s death. Finn died from drowning in a lake, and fish swim in lakes as well as they have “fins”. The use of this characters name was most likely an insight to lead into the   climax. Another theme used in the story “The Father”, was when the priest personally told Thord, “God grant that the child may become a blessing to you!”(Bjornson, page 27)In saying this the priest shrewdly implied to the father that his child is a piece of good fortune for him and his future. Also, that the child will teach him something of great importance within the time they have allotted together. Also, theme is the main literary term amplified in this story because of what the priest told the man after the death of Finn, “I think at last your son has brought you a true blessing.”(Bjornson, page 29). This quote relates once again to the quote in the beginning of the story. It says that because of his sons death, the man learned to love his son, and learned to value how short life may be. As well as he learned to value others lives as well as his own.

Bjornson, Bjornstjerne. ""The Father"" Stories. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1957. 27-29. Print.
-“God grant that the child may become a blessing to you!”
-”I think at last your son has brought you a true blessing.”