On Children chapter 3 notes and summary

                                     On Children

                                                         -Kahlil Gibram

an example of the image given in text book

On Children 

Summary

               The theme of the poem “On Children” by Kahlil Gibran is stewardship. Stewardship is someone caring for something or taking care of it but it does not belong to them. In the poem “On Children” Kahlil is trying to tell us how Parents cannot act like their children are their puppets. They will be free to do as they please and have a mind of their own. They are free to think for themselves. When "Kahlil writes "children as living in the house of tomorrow" he is telling us how children are important to the future. Parents merely act as "guiding lights" for their children.

              Children have the will to act as who they are and not someone else, to lead their own life and not how their parents want them to. The child that comes from the parent is a gift from God but since they merely "come through you but not from you" stating that the parents do not own them. In stewardship whatever that person is taking care of has the free will to do as they want as the person is only taking care of them.

              The poetic devices that are used in the poem include: personification, alliteration, connotation, metaphor and enjambment; and each of these add significant ideas to the poem's message. The author uses personification in line 5 to say that children are alive because of life alone. Alliteration is used for effect in the third line of stanza 3, in which connotation was 'incorporated. It shows how quickly children will become adults.

           In this way, the author emphasizes that the children will determine the fate of the world in the future or "the house of tomorrow". The entire fourth stanza is one metaphor explaining in length that children are born through their parents, not to their parents. The birth of each child fulfills "Life's longing for itself, as phrased earlier in line 5.

              Enjambment is used in the third last line to elaborate on why parents should enjoy being their children's parents, although they do not belong to them: they are also loved as children, and will always be loved as much as they love their own children. These devices connect the author's beliefs on children and to whom they belong.

       On Children                                                                                Comprehension 1:

1.    And a women who held a babe against her bosom said, “Speak to us of Children.” And he said: Here ‘he’ refers to

a.     her child

b.    the Prophet.

c.     The poet.

Ans: b. the Prophet.                                                                                           

2. `Your children are not your children’ means

a. they do not belong to their parents only

b. the children showed have their own space.

c. parents should not be possessive of their children

Ans: (c) parents should not be possessive of their children

3. “They come through you, but are not from you” means

a. through parents give birth to their children they do nol own them.

b. children have independent personalities.

c. parents should be indifferent to their children.

Ans: (a) though parents give birth to their children they do not own them.

4. According to the prophet, what may be given to the children

Ans: We may give our love to our children.

5. 'their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow' means

a. children belong to the future

b. parents cannot shape their children's future

c. children have a different vision of life.

Ans: (c) children have different vision of life.

6. ‘The bows' and 'living arrows' refer to ———— and ―――.

 Ans: parents and children

7. 'For even as He loves the arrow that flies. So He loves also the bow that is stable.' Discuss the contrast between the underlined words.

Ans: The bow stands for parents. The arrows stand for children. The archer is God himself. Here it is the metaphor. Bows and arrows signify parent-children relationship. Everything is looked after by God. He keeps the bow stable. The archer sees the mark upon the path

of the infinite and God bend parents with might so that  his arrows (the children) may go swift and far.

On Children

 Comprehension 2 and 3

1.    Why does the Prophet categorically state “Your Children are not your children?                                                                                                                              OR

2.    According to Prophet, what attitude should parents have towards their children?                                                                                                                              OR

3 In the light of the poem, think of different levels of freedom children must have in shaping their lives.

 Ans: No person truly belongs to another. After all, each person is unique, his/her fingerprints are only his/ hers; his/her mind is solely his/her own. Moreover, each person is formed by the era in which birth occurs "Life's longing" for the future. This wonderful poem is really beyond its time and is a must read for every parent. It starts off with "Our children are not our children". How many parents actually think about the same? Our children are not our ways and means to get over the imperfections in our own life. Many parents goad their kids apparently without even sparing a glance as to what the child wishes or wants. One wants the child to be a musical genius when they do not know a note, another wants the child to become what he/she could not be. Is that what children are for?

                                         They have come through us for a purpose of their own and some of them are very different from their parents...... in thoughts, attitudes, wishes, etc. 'Kalil Gibran says-they stay with you, but they do not belong to, you. Each one of us have to chart out our own paths and not one of us resembles the other. God and nature are so brilliant that we cannot find even one fingerprint resembling another. Parents can only give them love so as to make them confident for tomorrow but, our thoughts well we cannot give them that. We can offer opinions as choices but freewill should always be the way we allow them to grow and transcend what personality we are, even if we are good. They are our future and the future cannot be stagnant with the past.

     It can only reference the past, but not carry baggages of the past. The future can only be better and brighter because all beings strive for perfection and that is not possible with reference to the past because in focusing on the past, the present gets distorted. We can only be the bow and our children arrows and we have to stretch the limits of our thinking and living in order for them to move ahead much beyond what we have.

 The respect that any adult gets should not be because he/she is an adult, but it should be because the next generation feels we deserve it due to our thoughts which have become a foundation for their character and one day we should look at them and wonder....... these were my thoughts but my child has superseded me and I should hope to become like him/her one day...... That is the day that any parent should be proud that the parenting has been good when he/she aspires to become what his child is and not because he was forced to but of his/her own accord.

4. What does the metaphor bows and arrows signify with regard to parent-children relationship?                                                                                                                          OR

5. The poem does not focus merely on the lives of children, but also talks about the responsibility of parents. Discuss?

Ans: In the poem "On Children" Kahlil is trying to tell us how parents cannot act like their children are their puppets. They will be free to do as they please and have a mind of their own. They are free to think for themselves. When Kahlil writes "children as living in the house of tomorrow" he is telling us how children are important to the future. Parents merely act as "guiding lights" for their children. Children have the will to act as who they are and not someone else, to lead their own life and not how their parents want them to. The child that comes from the parent is a gift from God but since they merely "come through you but not from you" stating that the parents do not own them. In stewardship whatever that person is taking care of has the free will to do as they want as the persons is only taking care of them. Parents are the "bows” that send the "arrows of their children into this future. Each is beloved by God who is their creator. Parents must respect this order of creation for it is done in Love

Comprehension III

1. In this poem, `Parents' could stand as a metaphor for

a. the older generation.

b. leaders.

c. religious heads.

d. teachers.

Having considered the above options, offer different readings of the poem.

Ans: All the above persons can certainly guide the younger generations to reach their goals. They are only bows and the children are the arrows. The archer is God. When Kahlil writes "children as living in the house of tomorrow" he is telling us how children are important to the future. Parents merely act as "guiding lights" for their children. Children have the will to act as who they are and not someone else, to lead their own life and not how their parents want them to. The child that comes from the parent is a gift from God but since they merely "come through you but not from you" stating that the parents do not own them.

Important Note:- If there are any query about lesson or any mistake then please comment down freely we are ready to help you and slove you query as soon as possible