Disunity In Elizabeth Baines Compass And Torch

Children see their dads as role models and will try to get their approval for most things they will do. A mother can never be a father, and a father can never be a mother for the child, and if you split this family up, the relationship between the parents and the child will never be as strong as it was before. Many parents try to keep this relationship up when divorced but it’s very hard. The short story “Compass and torch” written by Elizabeth Baines in 2003 illustrates this significant dilemma of disunity. The text deals with the main themes family relationship, growing up and damaged relationship. We dive into the life of a boy who goes through hard times.

The main character is” the boy” whose name doesn’t get mentioned.

The title “Compass and Torch” underlines that these two elements plays a significant role. In the text it says, “A torch is for lighting when the time comes, for lighting up the expedition of father and son” (P. 8, II. 52-5) and “Two torches are for lighting a bigger space in the wilderness, for lighting it together. Two torches are for father and son to back each other up”. The torches symbolise the hope and truth. Not all hope has been lost as light represents the pureness as we see the real, I, of the father. “Two torches are for lighting a bigger space in the wilderness, for lighting it together,” the wilderness is full of difficulties and obstacles in life that only can be passed by, by being united as a family. It’s clear that the narrator wants to show the process from being a child to be a man. The boy and his dad are walking in the wildness in the dark, as well as sleeping in a tent to weather all conditions. "A tent to weather all conditions. In which he and his father will be two men.". The torches and the tent symbolise the manhood. The boy is constantly trying to impress his dad, but all kinds of obstacles stands in the way of it. In the start the boy’s mom says. “'Mad! The first in four months he has his eight-year-old son and what does he plan to do? Take him camping up a mountain! Talk about macho avoidance activity!'”. Later, in the

It also tells how they are completely at odds with each other represented by the different coloured torches and how they lack direction and understanding of how to relate to each other, because it’s clear throughout the story that the son loves the dad and it's clear in the end that the dad loves the son, but though the story, it's like trying to walk through the wilderness with no compass. We see time and time again they miss each other in their interactions they don’t connect, and they are lost in their search for how to relate to each other represented by the fact that they have lost or forgotten their compass. The horse or the mom represents the stability and when the stability in life is gone you get lost in life. After all, both the torch and the compass are a metaphor for creating a good relationship between the boy and his