Family is a big factor in self-perception. What a parent or family member says or does in front of their kids greatly affects them. The affects can be as little on how they act throughout their daily life or how they feel about themselves in front of a family member. They way self-perception is shown in the poem, “My Father, in Heaven, Is Reading Out Loud,” it tells of the son being a disappointment to his father but, then realizes that his father is no different from the ordinary person.
Self-perception is important and should never be negative and should be positive when near easily influenced people. In the poem, “My Father, in Heaven, Is Reading Out Loud,” it is narrator by the son whose father has passed away. He talks about how he thinks that he is a disappointment to his father. The son also states that his father is a scholar unlike him. In the poem it states, “I forget everything as soon as I read it (line 15).”
With that line it shows that the son doesn’t really like learning but, the father forces it upon him making him read in which he forgets soon after. This then effects his self-perception in which the son then sees himself as a disappointment to his father thus effecting how he feels. Not only does he feel this way, but his father is always pushing him to do something he doesn’t want to do. Though the son states all these negative things that his father has done to him, towards the end of the poem the son realizes positive things that he didn’t see towards his father originally.
127 our experts are availableright now
Towards the end of the poem, “My Father, in Heaven, is reading Out Loud,” the son realizes that his father isn’t different and is quite like the son. In the poem it says that, “At the doorway, I watched, and I suddenly knew he was one like me, who got my learning under lintel: he was one of the powerless, to whom knowledge came while he sat among suitcases, boxes, old newspapers, string (Line 32).”
This shows that his father was similar in the way they gain information about things. The son’s positive self-perception comes from his statement on Line 27 which states, “But I don’t disparage scholars; my father was one and I loved him.” This statement shows the fact the even though there were some negative thoughts that he had, he still loved his father never the less.
Towards the end the son slowly realizes his dad wasn’t different from him than what he thought at first. He also believes him and his father as regular people and just being regular human-beings. In the last stanza it states, “He did not decide peace or war, home or exile, escape by land or escape by sea. (Line 38).” This tells that his father wasn’t a bad person and that he was an ordinary person after all. I believe toward the end of the poem the son’s self-perception of himself changes after he realizes that his father was similar and was trying to do what’s best for him. Self-perception is easily influenced by people surrounding one another.
Family is a big part of that, and a family member can easily sway a child perception of a child from either being negative or positive. With self-perception it can greatly affect the attitude towards another person as seen in the poem, “My Father, In heaven, Is Reading Out Loud.” The son in the beginning feels as a disappointment towards his father after unable to do certain task. Then only later he see’s his father as a regular person doing what’s best for his son. Self-perception can be effected from being around family and friends.
References
- Is Your Self-Perception Generally Positive? – Verywell Mind
- How to Improve Your Self-Perception for Success in Life and Business – Entrepreneur
- Self Perception and Behavior in Adolescents Who Have Experienced Trauma – NCBI
- The Role of Children’s Self-Perceptions in Their Academic Outcomes – NCBI
- Self-Perception Theory: Why We Do What We Do – Stanford Magazine
- Self-Perception and Subjective Well-being in Adolescence – ScienceDirect
