I denne study guide får du hjælp til at analysere novellen “Son of Satan” af Charles Bukowski. Udover analysehjælpen kan du finde et summary af novellen samt forslag til at fortolke og perspektivere den.
Præsentation af teksten
Titel: “Son of Satan” (1982)
Forfatter: Charles Bukowski
Genre: Short story
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) skrev romaner, noveller og lyrik og var af tysk-amerikansk oprindelse. Han blev født i Tyskland, men boede det meste af sit liv i Los Angeles i USA. Bukowski afslørede selv, at hans far slog ham hyppigt, hvilket førte til den vrede og depressive tilstand, der er så karakteristisk for hans skriverier.
Bukowski regnes som en vigtig repræsentant for den litterære strømning, der på engelsk kaldes dirty realism. Denne type litteratur er kendetegnet ved et minimalistisk ordvalg og ved, at den ofte skildrer de mindre pæne sider af menneskelivet. Nogle af karaktererne bryder fri af samfundets kvælende normer, men ofte ved hjælp af vold.
Uddrag
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Title
The title of the story “Son of Satan” by Charles Bukowski refers to the narrator. It foreshadows the narrator's complicated relationship with his father, whom he hates, but by whom he is influenced.
The title echoes the message of the story, which is that abused children might become abusers themselves. The story starts with the narrator as the aggressor of another boy in his backyard, but ends with him as the victim of his father's violence in his house. This suggests that the endless cycle of violence and abuse starts and ends in the household.
The title is also symbolic. In religions such as Christianity and Judaism, as well as in popular culture, Satan represents evil and is the enemy of God. Therefore, when the father of the narrator tells him he is the son of Satan, he implies that he is the offspring of ultimate evil. The father also completes the statement by disowning him: “ ‘You are surely the Son of Satan, you are not my son!’ ” (p. 45, ll. 7-8).
Ironically and symbolically, the father accidentally associates himself with Satan by calling his own child Satan’s son. This statement also points to violent behavior being learned in the family.
