Power Relationships in Hughess Father and Son and Lawrences The Prussian Officer :: Essays Papers

Power Relationships in Hughes's "Father and Son" and Lawrence's "The Prussian Officer" There are many similarities in plot and theme in Langston Hughes’ "Father and Son" and D. H. Lawrence’s "The Prussian Officer." While each story is told in a very different style, the general tone is similar in each. The focal point in each story is a relationship between one man in power, and another man who is a subordinate. The dominant man has generally benevolent feelings towards his subordinate, information which is related to the reader through an omniscient narrator. Due to societal influences, the man in power suppresses this emotion not only from others, but from himself. This suppression later erupts into violence. Colonel Tom ("Father and Son") feels affection for his illegitimate black son, whereas the Prussian officer ("The Prussian Officer") harbors a homoerotic attraction to his orderly. These feelings are socially unacceptable to the point that neither man is capable of admitting this attraction even to himself. A description of oppressive heat occurs i n both, increasing the feeling of futility of the younger man’s struggle. The characters seem locked into their situation, and just as the heat is unavoidable, so is the conflict. The feeling that the dominant male is hiding a secret from those around him is more explicitly stated in "Father and Son." From the very beginning, the narrator informs the reader that Bert is Colonel Tom’s son. "Today his youngest son was coming home†¦.Bert was coming home" (Hughes, "Father" 599). This occurs before the reader realizes that there is a problem in the relationship: that Bert is illegitimate and has a black mother. Additionally, Colonel Tom is hiding his interest, and even pride in this boy who is so similar to him in appearance: "‘He’s too damn much like me,’ the Colonel thought. ‘Quick as hell†¦.Well, anyway, he must be a smart darkie. Got my blood in him’" (Hughes, "Father" 601). On the other hand, in "The Prussian Officer," there is more of an implied denial of the feelings the officer is harboring for his orderly because the officer’s homoerotic attraction is never explicitly stated: "Gradually the officer h ad become aware of his servant’s young, vigorous, unconscious presence about him†¦.It was like a warm flame upon the older man’s tense, rigid body†¦.And this irritated the Prussian. He did not choose to be touched into life by his servant" (Lawrence, "Prussian" 3).