In My Father's Den Themes

To learn about important human truths in a film, the viewers are given key ideas that we are forced to reflect on in our own lives and thoughts. The film, In My Father’s Den, directed by Brad McGann, adapted from the novel by Maurice Gee, provides the viewers with the opportunity to speculate on the issues of the importance of the loss of the innocence in youth, facing our personal demons and how everyone will inevitably make mistakes in their life. These are all seen through a dysfunctional and mysterious family living in a small, hidden town in the south island of New Zealand. The Prior family face a continuing conflict between family members and after a series of events, it ends in a tragedy due to a “simple misunderstanding”. These key
As we hear the words from her short story ring in our ears in the voiceover, it warns us of the troubles to come. “Adults continued to gossip and fight over the same old things” - instead of listening to Celia’s warning and choosing a path of forgiveness. We feel Celia’s disappointment when she says “no one, not even for a moment, stopped to even question why the ocean left in the first place.” The tragic death of Celia could have been prevented if the adults had only given her a chance to speak and listened to her. As shown in her writing skills, we know that Celia is mature and talented, destroying the stereotypical teenage image. This is a perfect example of how adults often underestimate the youth and the intelligence they behold, even when they possess huge potential. This reminds us of the importance of respecting, accepting and listening to the youth. Although youth typically view situations differently to adults, they see things through a different eye and that may be a certain vision that is lacking in adults. Celia is an extremely insightful young girl, which is how Paul was as a teenager. We see a lot of Paul in Celia and Celia in Paul. Both Celia and Paul are aware of the flaws in their society and know that to fulfill their dreams and ambitions they must move away from the small town of Rapere
This is shown through the sub-plot that follows the story of Penny and Andrew. Their relationship ultimately breaks down due to a lack of the ability to communicate with one another. Penny is responsible for Celia’s death in a aggressive, irreversible outburst of built up confused emotion and potential mental instability. Penny’s upheaval in anger is sparked by the sudden appearance of Celia in her clean, sterile home. This is a shocking interruption into the sanctuary of the agoraphobic woman. In a moment of contradicting emotions displayed by a fragile Penny, she asks Andrew “is it true?” - assuming that he was having an affair with Celia. However, due to the communication break down, Andrew misunderstands what she is referring to and also makes an assumption that Penny is in fact asking about Celia’s birth parents. Although Andrew stands blankly with no response, which led to Celia’s tragic death. As Andrew says to Paul at the climax of the film “a simple misunderstanding” - this phrase has the ability to take the life of an innocent girl away, but also confirms how no one is perfect. However, it is open to interpretation whether a “simple misunderstanding” is enough to gratify what Celia’s life was worth, because it seems as though her whole life was a simple misunderstanding, both beginning and ending that way. This may reassure