Discuss the theme of the relationship between children and parents in the novel “Bringing Tony Home” by Tissa Abeysekera.
Bringing Tony Home Themes:
1. Relationship between the child and the dog. (This has been dealt with earlier answer).
2. Relationship between children and parents.
3. Nostalgia for the past. (Desire to go back to the past).
In this article, I wish to discuss the second theme, i.e., the relationship between children and parents. We shall first discuss his relationship with his mother and then with his father.
The mother of the narrator appears to be a simple and modest woman who used to live a simple and modest life with her family even under the changing circumstances of the fortunes of the family. While at Depanama house, they used to live a comfortable life with servants and other luxuries. Later, they had to change houses and move into a less appealing household at Egodawatta due to the father’s financial difficulties.
The child’s mother, however, bears these changes of fortunes with equanimity and doesn’t get embittered like some women. She tries to make the best of the present situation and continues to look after the children with unchanging affection.
When Tony is brought to their half-house (as they had to share it with another family) at Egodawatta, the mother faces the dillemma of ensuring the health and safety of the child while not causing mental agony to him. As it is difficult to accommodate Tony in their crammed house, she ties it up in the common varandah and as it becomes a nusisance to the Mendises , they chases it away. However, she does not make any dispute with them, and also as a sensitive mother, she tries to console the child by saying that the dog would be better off at Depanama where he was known by people.
Often the mother empathizes with the child and tries to make his situation tolerable with kind words and silent behaviour which are typical of traditional and conventional women who belonged to the society of those days. The mother’s character must have had a lasting impression on the development of the narrator’s personality as a sensitive artist later in his life.
The relationship between the narrator and his father, on the other hand, appears to be somewhat remote when compared to his relationship with his mother although he too, proves to be a caring father. He often tries to stress the importance of obeying the adults and impose adult standards on the child. For example, he often tells him the story about Casabianca who stayed on the burning deck of the ship on his father’s advice - a classic example of obedience.
It appears that the child was not much interested in these examples. Instead, he was more interested in the stories and believes those so called heroes are idiots. His father also shows a negative attitude towards Tony and calles it an “ungreateful animal”. Unlike his mother, he fails to understand and empathize with the deep bond between the child and the dog.