Class: Aging and Wisdom (English 101)
Student: YoonJung Kim
Professor: Teddy Chocos Dimitrakopoulos
The method of caring child
There are many kinds of caring child because caring child can be depended on their
environment or their parents caring styles, such as some parents always care their child and push
them to study hard. On the other hand, few parents don’t care about their child because they want
to raise independence to their child by looking on them. Russell Leong who wrote ‘Notes from a
son to his father’ shows the father who doesn’t care about his son, cares about his work. On the
other hand, Lewis Johnson who wrote ‘For my Indian Daughter’ shows contrasting father from
Leong’s article. He shows the father who cares about his daughter and his ethnic problem. To
compare both fathers, the caring of the father who is written in Johnson’s article is better than
another father because child needs affection from their parents and they will follow their parent’s
behaviors even though these are bad or good.
Both fathers faced different problems, ethnic problems and unconcern about child, but in
caring child aspect, the father who is written in Johnson’s article is better than other father because
he wanted to share and teach his experience and ideas to his daughter. He is Indian, so he had hard
time about his ethnic because he didn’t accept his ethnic completely. After experiencing the cases
about his ethnic, he could accept and chose to live as Indian, not American because he thought that
heritage from ancestor is significant. His daughter will experience same problem with him, but he
wanted to share and tell to her about their ethnic and heritage. According to Johnson, “I would like
to prepare her for what’s to come, take her each step of the way saying, there’s a place to avoid,
there’s what I know about this, but much of what’s before her she must go through alone”(34). He
knows she has to experience about her ethnic with herself, but after experiencing that, he will share
and talk about his experiences and ideas with her. This father wants to stand next to his daughter
as supporter, but the father who is written in Leong’s article doesn’t care about his son. He is very
patriarchal, so he didn’t spend time with his son, and he always expressed rage to his son even
though his son who wanted to spend time with his father felt fear about his father.
Two fathers also had different results from their problems. Indian father had problem about
his ethnic because he is confused about being Indian or American. However, he solved his problem
by remaining Indian, and he will teach and make his daughter to follow him, being Indian because
he knows she will experience same problem with him about their ethnic. However, the father who
is written in Leong’s article couldn’t solve his problem which is the method of caring child because
he couldn’t even notice his problem. He considered he doesn’t have any problem about caring
child because he concentrated about his work, and he thought that ordering to son and obeying to
father is right. According to Leong, “beyond any relation of father and son, as if my death or any
son’s death could happen like this, if the son did not observe and obey the rules-the correct way of
doing things”(41). Like this, he thought that son and father don’t need to spend time or share their
ideas because son has to obey and follow his father. However, in caring child aspect, father has to
spend time with his son and share his experience to his son because child need affections from
parents, and his son also wanted to spend time with his father. According to Leong, “Yet I do not
know the real strength of my father’s arm. I have never been lifted on his hand, brought up to see
any life outside of my own. As a child I dreamed of my father”(40). Like this, he didn’t care about
his son, so he didn’t notice his method of caring child is problem.
Two fathers had different problems, the problems of ethnic and the method of caring child.
In caring child aspect, the Indian father is better than another father in Leong’s article because
Indian father gave affection to his child and he considers about his child’s problem which is same
problem with him. If parents give affections and care child, child might grow happily, and they
might raise their child with same methods which are used by their parents because they will follow
their parent’s opinions or behaviors which are observed when they are growing. So the method
which is used by Indian father of caring child is desirable way, giving affection to child and sharing
their experiences.