Essay about The Forgiving Father

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Re Assessment – The forgiving father

1.
• Sympathy

The Oxford English Dictionary
Definition: “feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune”

When looking at the painting it makes me feel ‘sympathy’ because the son is malnourished, starving and feels like he has failed his father. I feel for him even though what he had previously done was wrong, he made a mistake which we all make due to the fact we are all not perfection.

• Grief The Oxford English Dictionary
Definition: “intense sorrow, especially caused by someone’s death”

When looking at the painting it makes me feel ‘grief’ because both the son and the father are very emotional probably crying from what I can imply. They are hugging showing the are using one another as a support. It makes me feel grief for it is unhappy to see a father and a son grieve over one another especially when we know how close a father and a son can form to have a strong ‘mate’ relationship.

• Friendship

The Oxford English Dictionary
Definition: “the emotions or conduct of friends; the state of being friends”

When looking at this painting it makes me think of ‘friendship’ because the son and father have come together and forgot the past and are just worring about the present. The sign that they come together and embrace each other shows their friendship was never lost and that it will continue no matter the circumstances.

• Emotional

The Oxford English Dictionary
Definition: “relating to a person’s emotions, arousing or characterized by intense feeling, having feelings that are easily excited and openly displayed”

When looking at this painting it makes me feel ‘emotional’ because of the fact the father has waited for his son to return for several awaited years and doubted he had sadly died. For his son to return one day, is emotional for that is all the father wanted was his son back and because the father was a pure soul he deserved his wish to therefore come true.

• Love

The Oxford English Dictionary
Definition: “a strong feeling of affection”
The simple action of the hug between the father and the son shows that the display of love that has kept them still in feeling together but physically apart. By the reuniting of the son to his father and in turn the father without doubt forgiving him shows he has loved his son no matter what he may have done in the past.

2.
The painting is trying to capture the following moment in the parable:
…but while he was a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him…
The artist, Frank Wesley (1923-2002) has specifically tried to capture this moment in the story of ‘the lost son’ for many implicit and explicit reasons. The parable was spoken by Jesus to teach people of no matter how badly your disagreements or misunderstandings between one another it is always best to “forgive”.
The parable of ‘the lost son’ firstly captures how no matter how hurt the father must have felt; there was a magnificent display of the father's love. He embraced his son with open arms forgetting past events and looked on in to the future. It shows how much love and affection the father has towards his son, that nothing can form a divide.
This moment of the story also shows how ashamed, guilty and dishonourable the son emotionally felt and has been towards his father. The misconduct of asking his father for his share of the estate and in turn disappearing to faraway fortunes was a large sum of guilt the son had to now repay back.
Frank Wesley was able to influence this through the body language of the son in the painting. He portrayed the son slouched as if falling into his father’s arms showing he felt much emotion and a sense he felt he had disappointed or failed his father.
The painting is also a prime example of how no matter the circumstances and the crimes
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