Resurrection-man

I found that the scene where Young Jerry tells Jerry that he wants to be a resurrection-man great to read because it looked at Jerry in a bit of a different light. Although it is an obvious reference to our motif, it is a great character development passage. 

Earlier in the chapter, The Honest Tradesman, Jerry slapped his son and I thought, wow he's hitting his son! What an awful guy! However, at the same time I felt that it fit Jerry's personality to do such a thing. It also made me think that Jerry probably did not love his son very much. I thought that because it's possible for him to despise his wife, it would make sense for him not to like his son either. But, I was wrong. 

Jerry is happy to hear that his son wants to be a resurrection-man when he grows up. This is heartwarming to him and he remarks that Young Jerry may be a blessing and a recompense to him for the awful wife he claims to have (ha!). I then realized that I had underestimated Jerry. It had seemed to me that he was incapable of loving somebody and was only concerned about himself. It turns out that he is just as capable of expressing feelings of love towards his family as the average person. The scene showed a lighter side of Jerry. The loving side. His joy in hearing his son expressing his wish to become just like his dad shows how much he loves his son. It also shows how proud he is of him. After all, he's turning out to be a fine chap, just like his old man. It is a perfect scene of father-son bonding. We are treated to more insight into Jerry's personality as we find out that he is more caring than we thought. He loves his son and is proud to hear that he wants to be just like his father, which shows just how tender he really is.

Also, I found Rebecca's comment interesting which led to another conclusion of mine. She said that the whole Revolution itself is an agent of resurrection. The peasants will begin their lives anew. I think that although my blog topic doesn't have to do with the Revolution, the same observation can be made. Originally, it seemed like Jerry was often mean to his son. He used him as an assistant and slapped him on the head for barely any reason at all. I believe that their whole relationship is an agent of resurrection because they also have the opportunity to begin anew. They have developed a stronger relationship now that Jerry has learned that his son wants to have the same shady career.