Fanthorpe also conveys in “Old man, Old Man” the idea that as u grow older you lose the motivation to do normal things that you would do before this is shown when, “Now television has no power to arouse / your surliness”. Here Fanthorpe conveys the idea that television would once make him genial and sociable, whereas now he sits on his own in his own world with nothing to think about. Another important point to note is that in “Old man, Old Man” there are numerous accounts of male stereotyping. An example would be, “But a dab hand with the Black and Decker”, here we understand that once the Old man was able to perform the tasks that are stereotypically expected from a man, but now he sits doing nothing, useless to society as Fanthorpe sees it. Again we see Fanthorpe’s view that old people loose their value and become degraded in society as they grow old as they don’t carry any function in society. We understand from the poem that Fanthorpe does not have a very good parent too child relationship with her father due to the frequent criticisms she makes of him.
In contrast to “Old Man, Old Man, “Digging” shows a much more loving and warm view to parents. In “Digging” the main idea that is conveyed throughout the poem is the admiration for the boy’s father. An example would be when, “Stooping in rhythm through potato drills”. Here we understand that the boy admires his father due to his relaxed and systematic approach to his work. We understand that the boy wishes that he could be as good as his father through, “But I’ve no spade to follow men like him”. The boy is in awe of this “legend”, but he realises that he does not have the ability to be like him. In total contrast to Fanthorpe, Heaney shows a totally different parent-child relationship. He shows one where the child appreciates his fathers skill and strives to be like him.
This idea of Heaney striving to be like his father is shown to an even greater extent when, “By God the old man could handle a spade / Just like his old man”. Here we can see a sense of legacy, where the child wants to grow up and follow in the footsteps of his father. Through his poems, we understand that Heaney feels it was his duty to become a farmer and follow in his fathers footsteps and feels as though he has betrayed and disregarded everything his father had worked for by becoming a poet. We understand that Heaney was very proud of his hard working father, as shown when, “My father cut more turf in a day / Than any other man on Toner’s bog.” Here Heaney’s immense pride in his father is shown to an even greater extent. In this poem Heaney believes that a child should be proud of their parents’ life and value the hard work that they went through before their old age.
In conclusion, we see that both poems give a totally different view on the relationship between a parent and child. In “Old man, Old man”, Fanthorpe sees it as a problematic relationship where the child views her father as being helpless, useless and good for nothing. Whereas in “Digging” Heaney gives the impression that the relationship between parent and child should be one of admiration and love.
