Jennifer Kennedy
Symbolism of The Lost Son
Eng125: Introduction to Literature
Instructor Shawn Mangerino
June 24, 2013
The Lost Son, Gospel of Luke is a great and inspiring story to read from the Bible. This story can mean many different things. But the themes that stand out to me regarding this story are parenting, life lessons, and unconditional love. The story surrounds a father that had two sons. One son was loyal to his father and stayed home and worked the farm and the other son was more interested in material things and wanted what riches were destined to be his. The main theme is life lessons. Everyone makes decisions throughout their lives, and you always learn from the decision you make whether it was a good or bad decision and that is where the life lesson takes place.
The son who wanted what riches were destined to be his, was blinded by greed. He did not want to spend his life living on a farm and working for a living. He wanted to live lavishly and live like a king. He wanted to be independent and do whatever his heart desired. His father granted his request and let his son set out on his journey. But little did the son know that money only goes so far. Before he knew it, everything that he had was gone and he was left with nothing.
What was he to do to make a living now? He had nothing and nowhere to go so he was hired on by a local citizen to tend the farm as a farm hand. He was stuck feeding slop to pigs. I find it ironic that this son did not want to stay at his father’s farm and help him yet he ended up in another country broke and hungry and became a farm hand. He was at his lowest point in his life and was so hungry that he could have eaten the same slop that he was feeding to those pigs. Life lesson number one is, The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. (Henry David Thoreau)
What more was this young son to do? He was hungry, living on a farm and feeding slop to pigs. A thought came to his mind of his...