Sons and lovers: theme of industrialism, religion
Industrialism
Industrialism 1: The mining company has set up in the valley for the’ miners and their families. The well-to-do families and the poor families each live in the valley designated for them: Best wood for the well-to-do, and slums of “Hell Row” for the poor.
Industrialism 2: Mrs. Morel despises the dreary and monotonous life she leads as a poor miner’s wife. She wishes that she could leave this little provincial town for the poor something bigger and better. Mrs. Morel cannot wait for her children to grow up so that she can escape the slums of this town when they are older.
Industrialism 3: Mrs. Morel, confident that William achieve a better profession than mining, is adamant that he will not become a miner like his father. She knows that William is capable of more than her husband ever was, and wants William to pursue all that he can achieve.
Industrialism 4: Now that Paul is of age to work, the valley he has loved and cherished so much as a child has become a place of work. He can no longer view the valley in the same way he once did: the valley loses its appeal of freedom, independence, and innocence
Industrialism 5: Paul finds a job at a company that makes surgical appliances. He is becoming part of the great industrial movement of England. Paul can now finally earn money for his family, for his mother especially. He feels proud that he can work and earn a salary like an adult. Industrialism 6: Paul enjoys himself at work. He finds companionship in the factory girls and his boss. However, he begins to witness a significant gender difference in men’s and women’s work. He sees that the men represent the work ethic and the women do not.
Industrialism 7: The trains that transport Paul to work every day, along& with many other people living in the countryside, symbolize the industrialized and non- established parts of England. The factory where Paul works is just one of the many places in industrialized Nottingham that represents culture and sophistication.
Industrialism 8: Paul likes the feeling of men working, especially of men sitting on trucks. He feels that the physical work of men is thrilling and impressive, and makes him feel more invigorated and alive to see men at work.
Industrialism 9: Arthur, the youngest Morel child, gets a job at Minton Pit, doing electrical work. He, as with Paul, enters the work force, doing a profession that requires skill and technical knowledge. That Arthur joins the industrial work force suggests the intensity of work in the industrial field.
Religion
Religion 1: Paul prays for his mother’s safety. In doing so, he prays that his father might be hurt or even killed so that he might never hurt his mother again. Yet guilt washes over him, and then he prays for his father as well. Morel ultimately can never quite get along with his family because he denies any single shred of religion, stability, compassion and love in his soul. Religion 2: Miriam, who possesses intense piety and religion, believes that her brothers and father are too vulgar, for they have no regard for church or God, whom she loves passionately. She only admires and respects those who attend church and therefore believe in the teachings of God.
Religion 3: Miriam feels so deeply about nature that she is in her own little world of reality. To her, the natural world is a wonderful paradise like the Garden of Eden, and knowledge of the harsh, hateful things in life wrecks the beauty of nature.
Religion 4: Paul is frustrated and angered at the way Miriam devotes herself so deeply and intensely to people, nature or ideas. He asks her in frustration why she feels she has to devote herself so much to whatever he says or does.
Religion 5: The rose-bush Miriam shows to Paul eerily signifies their relationship. That Miriam is intensely loving and warm toward the beautiful, white roses and that Paul feels strangely “imprisoned” by them symbolize their feelings for each other and toward sex with the other. Miriam would devote herself to Paul, who would feel smothered by her intensity.
Religion 6: Miriam prays to God that if He wills her to love Paul, she will undoubtedly follow his words and love Paul as much as she can. She will love Paul if God means for them to love each other. However, she feels ashamedthat her feelings for Paul are so open and ardent when her sister chastises her.
Religion 7: Paul declares to Miriam that she is a nun ieve1Y sense of their relationship. He has given everything he possibly could in their relationship except passion. Paul feels that he can never love her in a physical sexual way because they love each other in a spiritual way not a passionate way.
Religion 8: Miriam fiercely tells herself that she will devote herself to Paul if their wills wish them to have sex. She tells herself firmly that she will give him the passion he wants and needs, against her wishes. She will sacrifice her virginity for him.
Religion 9: When Miriam and Paul have sex, Paul notices that she looks strangely calm. After they have sex, Miriam decides that she is not ready to give herself sexually to him if he needs her.
