Potato Eaters Analysis

Working is one of the most defining aspects of a person’s character. It is ubiquitous in our way of life and paramount to maintaining it. As a defining point in our character it is influenced by upbringing and heritage. A parent's career choice, or general means of livelihood, has an immense influence on a child’s path in life, whether because of the didactic nature of the parent or the child’s veneration for their parents. Alternatively, youth may become resigned from an early age to adopt the social and economic level they have always lived, no matter how loathsome or prosaic. The most positive influence a parent can have on their child comes from their own honest, persistent, fervent work instilling the same ethic or the same love of the profession, regardless of profession itself, into their child. The poem “Digging” captures the essence of the less literal form of this interpretation, where a parent and grandparent’s legacy together impacted their descendant to success as a poet while writing of the ethic to their parent and grandparent. Despite following a career path entirely differently, his
parents still influenced him in his career. He was able to rise above the education level of his forebears and better himself, driven by the love and admiration he felt for his family. The nature through which the parent’s work transmits to the child makes all the difference in how it will influence their child's career path. When viewed in a positive way, like in “Digging,” then the child will be more likely to succeed rather than if they had no influence at all. Skills, passion, and determination are admirable traits that imprint on children well. I would not say say that either of my parents are “didactic”, I will say that my father greatly influenced my career path. My father joined the Navy right as he turned eighteen never receiving his high school diploma. Since I was young engraved in my mind was the ethic to work hard so I am able to graduate high school, go to college and receive a diploma as I watched him do both. Although I do not plan on joining the military I do intend to work as hard as my father and honor him in that way. “Potato Eaters” by Van Gogh, captured the negative aspects of a parent's influence; that children will stay trapped in the shadow of their parent’s legacy.
The blame cannot turn on to the parents, but more taken as an addition to the child's environment. When a parent’s station in life is less than ideal that standard may imprint on a child’s mind as what is normal. The child may start to believe that is all they are capable of and all attempts to the contrary are meaningless. A mindset established from a depressive mindset. The multiple generations displayed in Potato Eaters amplified this depressing, cathartic thought into the inescapable vile it takes its victims as. In a type of antithesis to the parents who works hard at something they love, the attitude helps make a difference between the children emerging from these different
upbringings. The positive or negative atmosphere, enthusiasm or lack thereof, and the amount of attention all supplied by a parent have the largest effect on a developing child of what their ethic will be, where their interest will lie, and numerous other factors over their working lives forever. The right upbringing of a child could build any bridge, cure any disease, solve any case, or attain any office. But in the wrong environment, children may never form to their fullest potential, which is the most trajectory error a parent can cause.