Comments on: Chapter 20 – Father and Son: Page 36

By: Jonni

Jonni — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 05:33:00 +0000

I know what you mean. I love the way this story shows there are ways to be strong without flexing muscles at people, that character and tenderness are also strengths and how good people nourish one-another by being good to each other – and how selfish people ultimately undo themselves with their own selfishness. The characters show the importance of compassion, understanding and the dangers of making assumptions and that the real treasure is not money, but each other.

By: Rache

Rache — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 02:15:00 +0000

Aww, I hope he says yes, because that’s just sad :/

By: Donald Burch

Donald Burch — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 20:14:00 +0000

I like your observation of Arthur Singer’s motives and attitudes. It seems very much in keeping with the character as presented in the story. I don’t believe in two-dimensional evil. No one intentionally does what they think is wrong. They might employ flimsy or ill-considered justifications or like you mentioned, simply pass on what they learn in life in a sincere effort to help their children. It still leads to lasting harm that they can’t seem to grasp. So, it must be the child’s fault. It is tragic and it happens in real life all the time. I enjoy how EMR inspires me to reflect on life, to see it with a clearer perspective. Through the frailties of these all too-human characters I gain insight on how to become a better person to those I love. I learn when to forgive and when to hold others accountable. I treasure this work for that reason.

By: Jonni

Jonni — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 20:05:00 +0000

Therapy requires the admission that you have a problem. Arthur Singer is far too arrogant to do that – he always twists things to see someone else at fault, his ego has always been his armour – now it’s become a millstone instead.

By: Jonni

Jonni — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 19:54:00 +0000

We all develop strategies for dealing with life. Loking back at Elan’s memories of some of Arthur Singer’s comments, I think as a child he saw a mean, ruthless world out there and decided the only way to survive it was to be meaner and more ruthless than anyone else. It was his way to survive and thrive – and as a businessman, it served him very well, as a human being, not so much. But if that was all that there ever was to Arthur Singer, why in the world would Elan’s mother marry him? I wonder if she was the one person who could bring out the tenderness in him, the only person he ever let close enough to hurt him. When she died, Arthur Singer would have felt the pain of loss all the more keenly because he had never let himself care enough to get hurt before; did he regret the years that he loved whilst he was in the pain of mourning? Would he swear to never let anyone close enough to hurt him again? As far as Elan goes, I’m guessing in the early years Arthur Singer was trying to toughen his boy up “to be a man” like him, but being tough and ruthless is the only thing he knows how to do and the only strategy he sees for “success” is to be tough and ruthless against his son, because that’s just the way the world works in his mind. I think that Arthur Singer proves himself to be a bad man by his attitudes and actions, but like most bad people, he’s not someone who was born evil – just a tragic story of his own bad choices, false conclusions and the denial of his own heart.