Harwoods 'Father and child' is the persona male or female? (1 Viewer)

[Jazz1989]

ok so for those studying harwood in father and child i read the persona as a male trying to fit in and achieve maturity in a patrarchal society. everything is symobolic. the father representing what is expected of the young boy after he reaches maturity, the owl is symbolic of the childs youth and all that he knows and understands in the world etc etc.

My english teacher refuses to accept my arguement of this and remains presistant that the persona is female.

Am I completely off track here or does my arguement make the smallest amount of sense to anyone out there?

 

[sp0ntane0us]

When I first read it I thought it was a boy as well.

But the poem makes reference to King Lear, which was about the King and his daughter or something, so that suggests by association that it is in fact a girl. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's about Harwood herself.

 

[Jazz1989]

Well i initially thought it was female but i started to read into it more (maybe thats my problem) and I thought why cant this be about a young man perhaps confused by his sexuality as some children are (psych.) and trying to prove his worth as a male in the patriarchal society. the killing of the owl is a way to say 'hey i can do it' and the initial rebellion of the child, sneaking around and attempting to kill without his fathers knowledge could mean that his father has said to him no your too young thus providing more of an urge to prove his worth.

No where in the poem is a mother or comforter mentioned perhaps this is the reason that in part 2 the father is refered to as the 'stick thin comforter'.

The owl to me symbolises the childs youth and knowledge to the point thus far. When the child shoots the owl he/she realises that death is not black and white. thier knowledge is shattered and the childs understanding of the situation is the reflection of the owls struggle.

does that make sense?

 

[kormy]

The poem is partially a reflection of her own life in the second part, and mainly based on her own experiences (but im not sure if that actually means that she kiled an owl...) so i presumed that the child was herself also. Our class had a big debate over whether it was a boy or girl, but we mostly thought that the child was probably a tomboy kind of girl. The child also seemed likely to be a girl because of the biblical allusions ot the original sin, with the deliberate disobediance of the father (God), sneaking out and killing the owl (eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil), so in that sense the child can be a girl. To me, when i read it, the child was just immediately a girl, her actions of kiling the owl did not make it seem as though she was a boy, but that could just be because of my farming/ country background. Plus, in the second part of the poem, the tone is softer, but we know that it is the same person, just as an adult, and it seems more apparant in that section that the persona is a female.