Rake

We were asked to give a personal opinion about Mamet’s The Rake personally I myself can relate to this boy on many different levels I mostly can relate to the relationship with his “father”. In this story the relationship with the little boy and his “father” is at an all time low. His father is very controlling and extremely violent mentally, and physically. When I read this story I did not expect myself to be able to relate to this boy, but when I read this story it almost brought me to tears due to the fact that my father treated my family very similar to how the father treated his family in this story.
When I was younger I always had an unexplainable fear of my father. He would always make it know to me, my sister, and my mother that he was not a force to be wrecked with. When I was younger I loved him with all my heart because at the age of five you are taught that you should love everybody. However the love from my father was a lack thereof. In Mamet’s the Rake I could tell that the little boy wanted to love and be loved he tried to find happiness in his private little life. It is never a crime to want to be loved and “we” being both me and the little boy tried to force of love upon our fathers. However things took a turn for the worse when we tried to do so.
Throughout my life I have always had a sense of a low-key type person because I never wanted to do anything that could jeopardize my freedom with my father. My father had a sense about him that was very strict and just an overall evil man. He never loved me or my family, and everybody knew it. Just like in this story everybody knew that the father did not love or care about anyone. His demeanor was just unbearable he felt as if he was always right about everything and if you disagreed with him he would down play your intelligence with insults and physical violence. I really felt that the little boy in this story had a lot of pain but it is rather peculiar how it did not talk about the little boy dealt with his problems. I would think that the little boy would look for an outlet to help him escape his problems.
His mother in this story is very similar to mine. His mother seems to be a very quiet person with a low self-esteem and she seems as if she is a bit lifeless and has no say- so in the disciplinary acts that affects her son. My mother was also like that my father always made her feel as if she was less than shit and that she did not matter to anyone or anything. She is a soft spoken woman that has endured a vast amount of abuse in her lifetime. In my general opinion no mother should have to take the physical abuse from her husband or boyfriend or whomever because it is hard enough being a parent and when you have people that just want to make it hard on you just for the hell of it, well…. That is just simply uncalled for. Luckily my mother no longer has to deal with my father due to a physical altercation between me and my father. He is no longer allowed around me or any or my family.
Another thing I noticed in this story the sister has possible dreams of maybe becoming an actress or something due to the fact that she took the lead role in her schools play, so it seems as if she has dreams or aspirations to become something in life. However she is quickly bought back to reality when the fear of her family brings her back down to reality. I also have dreams and aspirations to make something of myself and yes my father has tried many a time to prevent me from doing so, but I fought for my life, and for my dreams and I must admit it was not an easy fight but if I could speak to that little girl in the story I would say,” Sista don’t give up on your dreams because somebody wants to playa-hate. You keep fighting for what you believe in and the good lord will bless you abundantly. Because if you don’t fight for yourself nobody else will.
In conclusion people’s lives can be very different, yet similar. Considering the fact I don’t know this little boy or his mom or even his sister, it was not hard for me to relate to them. People say life is whatever “you” make it and I continue to live by that every single day. If you don’t make life then somebody else will make it for you.