CHAPTER: - 3
TOPIC: - ON CHILDREN
KAHLIL GIBRAN
TOPIC: - ON CHILDREN
KAHLIL GIBRAN
SUMMARY
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
The first line suggests a basic response in most of us parents, who feel a biological, emotional, and spiritual instinct to care for our children. We chose to have them. We are carefully raising them, teaching them, loving them.
They do not “belong to” us. We don‟t own them. We may have chosen (or not) to consider them, but we didn‟t choose who they are. We are the means by which they came into the world, but we did not design them. A force greater than ourselves — God, nature, “Life‟s longing for itself,” whatever you want to call it — is responsible for that.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
Not only are my kids not mine, but also, let‟s think about our own mortality. Ouch, again.Seriously, though, this is so true. Kids come with their own unique identity, and their own unique part to play in this world. We can‟t imagine what likely lies within them, and we certainly can‟t imagine what their world will be like in the future.
We can care for them and offer them what we can, but we can‟t make them think like us or believe like us. And we shouldn‟t want to because they will need different thoughts and beliefs to navigate a world we can‟t foresee. They are living in their own time, just as we are. And they were created for their time, not ours.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
Parents understand this concept of time better than anybody. There‟s no finishing time, and there‟s certainly no reversing it, no matter how much we might wish to do so. Time marches forward, and we all move forward with it.
It‟s so tempting to want to make our mark on — or through — our children, but they have their lives, and we have ours. They have their own destinies to fulfill, and we have ours. Our destinies are interwoven, but they are not the same.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
I feel this bending now, as my oldest prepares to make her way out from under my wing. Perhaps this is why parents say parenting doesn‟t get easier. The closer we are to sending our children out into the world, the further we have to bend. We get stretched to our limit, and before we know it, they are off. But the bending and stretching are painful. I love this analogy illustrating that this pain has a purpose.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
What a lovely reminder to find joy through the pain, because we and our children are loved by the Heavenly. And to be strong, because our firmness will help our children to fly. Our children. Our children who are unique, individual human beings, with whom we are only together for a spell. Our children who will help move the wheel of humanity a few feet farther than we‟ll be able to see. Our children who have their own destiny and their own purpose separate and apart from our own.
Our children who are not really our children at all.
I. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase or a sentence each: -
1.What do the children have with them?
Ans: Desires and thoughts.
2. In On Children‟, „You may give them your love but not your ----------------
a. Dreams
b. thoughts
c. gladness
Ans: (b).
3. What according to the speaker can parents not visit in ‟On Children"?
Ans: The parents cannot visit Tomorrow.
4. How does the arrow move?
Ans: Swift and far
5. Who sees the mark upon the infinite?
Ans: God the archer.
6. Bending in the archer‟s hand be for ------------------
Ans: Gladness.
7. How does the life go on?
Ans. Life always goes forward and never backwards.
8. What does „living arrows‟ refer to in „On Children‟?
Ans.Children.
9. Who are referred to as ‟bows‟ and‟ arrows‟ in the poem „On Children‟?
Ans. „Bows‟ are the parents and „Arrows‟ are the children.
10. Who is stable like the bow in „On Children‟?
Ans. Parents.
11. What shouldn‟t the parents give their children, according to Khalil Gibran?
Ans. Their thoughts
12. What, according to the speaker, can parents not visit in „On Children‟?
Ans.Mother Earth.
13. According to the Prophet, what may be given to the children?
Ans. The love of the parents.
14. According to the speaker of „On Children‟, the one who loves both the arrow and the bow is ………….?
(a) The archer
(b) The parents
(c) The children
Ans. The Archer.
15. Whom does „Living arrows‟ refer to in the poem „On Children‟?
Ans. Children
16. What does the word „Wow‟ refer to in the poem „On Children‟? Or Whom does the word „Bows‟ refer to in „On Children‟?
Ans. Parents
II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph of 80 – 100 words each: -
III. Answer the following questions in about 200 words: -
1. How should parents take care of their Children according to the speaker in ‟On Children‟?
Or How should parents raise their children according to the speaker of „‟On Children‟?
Ans. The Poemhighlighting that parents do not own their children and they cannot control the desires and thoughts of the children. The poet feels that children should be freely and lovingly allowed to grow into independent individuals. Children too have their minds and their own thoughts. Parents are the” bows” and the children are the” arrows”. Our Creator God uses the stable bow to send the arrows to a certain place. In other words, parents need to be good stable role models for their children. Thus, the poet wants parents to guide their children through love and not control them or their thoughts.
2. What should be the attitude of the parents towards their children, according to the prophet in the poem ‟On Children‟? According to the prophet, what attitude should parents have towards their children? Or What attitude should parents have towards their children, according to the prophet?
Ans.The poet stresses that the children are the continuation of life on earth, and should be freely and lovingly allowed to grow into their individuality. The parents should love their children without binding them with their own thoughts. Children have their own set of thoughts. It is true that parents protect the children‟s physical bodies but they can never bind their souls which live in the house of tomorrow. The parents‟ love could make them like their children but should not make their children become like themselves because every child has his own inner personality. Thus, through this poem Khalil Gibran conveys that children should be given love, care and affection but thoughts should not be imposed upon them.
3. Why does the archer want his arrows to fly „swift and far‟ in „On Children‟?
Ans. God is the Archer, parents are the bows and Children are the arrows. The Archer wants His living arrows to reach the target. He decides the target for His arrows by using the parents as bows to shoot the arrows. If parents give their love and not their thoughts, the living arrows will reach the target as per the Divine plan. God, the Supreme Power, uses parents as vehicle to bring children to this earth. Children have their own thoughts and souls. Therefore, parents cannot possess them as puppets.
4. How does Khalil Gibran describe the role of the parents in the lives of their children in the poem „On Children‟?
Ans.The poet feels that children should be allowed to freely and lovingly grow into independent individuals. Children too have their minds and their own thoughts. Parents are the„bows‟ and the children are the „arrows‟. Our Creator, God uses the stable bow to send the arrows to a certain place. In other words, parents need to be good stable role models for their children. Thus, the poet emphasizes that parents should guide their children through love and not control~ them or their thoughts.
5. How does the poet Khalil Gibran highlight the responsibility of parents in the poem ‟On Children‟?
Ans.God is their Creator and the parents are the instruments who continue creation on the earth. The poet asks the parents to give the children their love and affection but not their thoughts. They should be allowed freely and lovingly to grow into individuals. Children belong to the future and they are independent personalities. The poet compares the parents to bows and children to arrows and God, the Archer. God uses bows-parents--to bring children-arrows into the world. Parents should be gentle role models and guide the children and not force them into doing something.
6. The poem "On Children" does not focus merely on the lives of children but also talks about the responsibility of parents. Explain.
Ans.The poem "On Children" does not focus merely on the lives of children but also talks about the responsibility of parents. In the first part Gibran argues thatchildren take birth as life‟s longing for itself. Since we do not create children, we cannot possess them. However, Gibran argues that parents do have a role in the life of children. He says that we should give our children as much love as we can but never our thoughts. The children must be let free to think for themselves, and parents must not aim their ideas on them. Next, Gibran talks about the responsibility of parents. He states that God is the archer, and parents are his bows. The archer decides on the target, bends the bow to suit his target and shoots the arrows. The arrows are the children. Thus the archer wants the parents to serve as his instrument. If the bow remains rigid and inflexible, the arrows may not reach the desired destination. Therefore, as parents, it is our responsibility to be flexible enough to allow our children to live their own lives.
7. How is the parent and children relationship brought out in Kahlil Gibran‟s poem ‟On Children? Or Why did the poet believe that children are not your children „but‟ ‟the sons and daughters of Life‟s longing for itself” Explain?
Ans. Gibran assumes Almustafa and speaks to the people with the intention ofenlightening them about „children' and to guide them as to how they should bring up their children.
1. „Children‟ are born to fulfill the „longing‟ of life itself. They are a gift from the richnessof existence. God, the supreme power, uses parents as a vehicle or passage to bring children to this earth. Since parents do not create „life', parents do not own children. They may house. their bodies but not their souls.
2. „Children‟ have their own souls and are not nonliving things. Therefore, parents cannot possess them as puppets. Life‟ s longing for itself brings forth children in the form ofsons and daughters. Hence, our sons and daughters do not belong to us though we have accepted them.
3. Parents bring children to this earth, they should also take care of children as stewards‟ and protect them, take care of their needs until they grow and mature and become fully developed individuals. Parents should take care of their needs only and should not impose their thoughts and ideas on them.
8. Explain the views of the prophet On Children and parents in the poem „On Children‟. Or What are the views of the Prophet on children in the poem „On Children‟?
Ans.According to the Prophet, a child is a gift from the abundance of existence and it is eternal life‟ itself. Children are born as sons and daughters as „life‟s longing for itself‟. Parents do not create them and hence cannot possess them. Parents serve as a „passage' or vehicle to bring the children to this world. Further, children have their own thoughts because they have the free will to do as they please. Whereas parents belong to the yesterdays, their children belong to the future. The children Will have their own scriptures and saints; hence parents should only give them as much love as they can and not their thoughts. Parents should not push their past as atradition on their children but should let them grow according to their own potential.
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER:
The speaker says „your children are not your children‟.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing.
They come through the parents but not from them.
Though they are with the parents, yet they do not belong to them.
The arrows are children and bows are parents.
The parents can give their love but not their thoughts.
Because the children have their own thoughts.
The parents may house their bodies but not their souls.
Their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow.
The parents cannot visit in their dreams.
The archer is God.
The arrows are children and bows are parents.
The bending is in the archer‟s hand.
The archer loves the arrow that flies and the bow that is stable.
RECAPITULATION:
A woman requesting prophet to speak on children
Children belong to life not to parents
Parents can give love but not thoughts
Parents may give shelter to bodies but not their souls
Children‟s souls dwell in the house of tomorrow
Bows- parents. Living arrows- children.
God- the archer
Archer loves both children and parent
0 Comments