Sophocles Shirley Jackson and Theodore Roethke

¶ … Oedipus the King" by Sophocles, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, and "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke. Specifically, it will interpret and illustrate how the theme of parents may be seen in these three pieces. Each of these pieces concern the family, but not the normal family unit most people expect. Each of the parents in these three pieces obviously contributes to the lives of their children, but not necessarily in the positive ways most parents are expected to contribute to the growth and abilities of their progeny.

Their children grow in spite of their parents, rather than because of them. The child in "My Papa's Waltz" has fond memories of his father, as this passage shows. "We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf;" (Roethke 880). However, as with many childhood memories, these views are distorted. Clearly, the father in the piece is a drunkard, and the mother is eternally displeased, as "My mother's countenance / Could not unfrown itself" (Roethke 880). This short poem sets up a theme common to all three of these pieces, parental influence.

However, in these pieces, the influence is not for the good. This little boy loved his father, but the father seemed to live in a world of his own, that sometimes included his family, but more often included hard work and hard drinking. The father here is not a good influence on his son, as the mother's "countenance" clearly shows, and this is a theme common to these works. The parents influence the children, but not in the ways most parents want to influence their children.

This theme continues in "Oedipus the King," which may be the most well-known example of parents who negatively influenced their children. Oedipus' parents sent him off to be killed when he was a baby because of negative prophecies about him. At the very heart of this tragedy is the undercurrent of sexual desire between mother and son, as his mother, Jacosta notes. "In their very dreams, too, man men / have slept with their own mothers. / A man who shrugs off such things / as meaningless will bear his life best" (Sophocles 50).

Sophocles brings a very forbidden aspect of parenting out in the open, and it of course affects Oedipus when he discovers he has indeed fulfilled the prophecy he was so trying to avoid. Oedipus is a tragic hero because he causes the ruin of his own family by killing his father and marrying his mother. In an almost fiendish twist, Oedipus has also severely influenced his children by fathering them with his mother, and then leaving them to fend for themselves after he blinds himself.

He cries, "I can still weep for you, though I can't see you. / I imagine how bitter lives will be. / I know how men will force you to live" (Sophocles 65). Oedipus has perpetuated the tragedy his parents began, as this author notes, "The stigma of Oedipus can be expected to pursue all of his children, boys as well as girls. The sons and daughters are all orphaned and cursed by the tragedy of their parents" (Nassaar 188).

His parents were so afraid of the prophecy surrounding him that they sealed their own fate when they sent him away. If they had confronted their fears, they might have saved themselves while saving their son at the same time. Sadly, they instead negatively impacted everything by their rash and fearful actions. In "The Lottery," the family unit seems secure and serene until the last few lines of the story, when it becomes clear that all is not what it seems in the peaceful village.

Here, the parental influence on children is strong, as many small scenes show. "Bobby Martin ducked under his mother's grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother" (Jackson). However, the children are being raised by a demented set of elders that hangs on to violent old customs as a way of holding on to the past, rather than looking toward the future.

One reviewer noted, "Simply put, the fact that something has been done a certain way for a really long time does not necessarily justify its continuance" (Judd). It is here that the parents let their children down. Their children will always live under the shadow of the lottery, and this is a terrible legacy to leave behind. In fact, the children even participate in the stoning of their own parent, which is even more terrible.

These events cannot help but impact the children, and they have, as the story shows shortly before its' sudden and violent end. "Some places have already quit lotteries.' Mrs. Adams said. 'Nothing but trouble in that,' Old Man Warner said stoutly. 'Pack of young fools'" (Jackson). Many of the children recognize the folly of the lottery, and want to stop it, but the parents perpetuate it, and so destroy their own children.

Each of these pieces portrays the children as fairly normal, but the parents' actions clearly affect their children, and this is the common theme woven through these pieces. Parents can have an amazing affect on their children, and when it is positive, the children thrive and grow. When it is negative, as it is in these stories, it tends to perpetuate itself, and continue to influence generations of the family in long-lasting and negative ways.

Parents are a vital force in the family, and when they negatively impact their children, they negatively impact society, too. In conclusion, all of these tragic pieces illustrate.