ON CHILDREN SUMMARY
KHALIL GIBRAN
"On
Children" is extracted from Khalil Gibran renowned collection of poems
"The Prophet" which offers a critique of the expectations of the
parents from their children. Kahlil Gibran brings out high values of life in
his simple and beautiful poetic essays.
The poem begins with a woman holding her child against her bossom and approaches
prophet for his advice on growing children. The prophet states his views about
children in a graceful way and says that their children are not their children;
they are simply the children of life belonging itself. He says that the
children come through parents however not from them, which means parents are
simply the medium to bring the children into this world. Parents making claims,
the prophet says that they’re just biological means and therefore the children
don’t belong to them.
Children live with
their parents but they do not belong to them. Parents may give their love and
affection to the kids in the form of basic needs of life yet they should not
force their thoughts. Children have their own ideas and identity. The poet says
that the parents may provide shelter to
their bodies however they can't house their souls as their souls live in the
place of tomorrow, which implies that children are the future where as parents
are compared with past. The Prophet says that parent have a biological bond
with children.
Parents
are suggested to follow the ways of children rather than to change to be like
them. Similarly the parents should strive to like children and they should not
try to make children like them as life consistently moves ahead and not in
reverse. Parents are compared to bows and their kids are compared to arrows.
The archer is compared to God and the archer bends the bows accordingly so that
the arrow may go swift and far by bending the bow. Parents should take enjoyment
of this act of bending that involves great strain.
The
law of creation is where God loves both the bow and the arrow as they
complement each other on life’s journey. Parents should be glad and give
importance to children’s independent ideologies as God loves both the arrow
that flies and also the bow that is stable.
