In many cases, the children and grandchildren of the rich and/or famous don’t turn out so well. Growing up in privileged families can leave them spoiled, nasty, entitled, coldhearted, etc. Not always, of course, but often enough.
This is also the case in novels — which, as we know, usually mirror real life in some way. My most recently read example involves the title characters in Sons, Pearl S. Buck’s sequel to The Good Earth. In that first China-set book, Wang Lung built himself up from being a poor farmer to a rich landowner via endless toil and strategic smarts. He did exhibit some very problematic behavior in his older age, but overall was more admirable than not.
His three sons in the sequel? Not as admirable. With no worries about money after being among the inheritors of his father’s land, the eldest son becomes fat, lazy, and weak-minded. The more-intelligent second son works hard but is exceptionally greedy and miserly. The ambitious third son becomes a brave but antisocial war lord who forces his son — a gentle soul — into a military life. One wouldn’t want any of that sibling trio on their holiday card list.
Other novels in which the next or next-next generation isn’t so scintillating?
The title character of Alexander Pushkin’s novel-in-verse Eugene Onegin is a son of privilege who becomes a bored and selfish man making some unfortunate decisions.
Vernon and Petunia Dursley (more upper-middle-class than rich in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series) are not-nice human beings who raise an even-worse son, Dudley — who’s petulant, pampered, and beyond spoiled.
Another novel with a depressing descendant is Booth Tarkington’s The Magnificent Ambersons, in which the grandson of the family’s aristocratic patriarch is an arrogant jerk.
Obviously, rich and/or famous parents themselves can be problematic, with their children often following suit but sometimes becoming decent human beings.
In George Eliot’s Silas Marner, for instance, Squire Cass is quite unlikable, and his sons Godfrey and Dunstan are no picnic, either. Things are more mixed in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, in which the repulsive dad’s sons include Dmitri (who behaves kind of like his wealthy father), Ivan (an intellectual who’s a relatively decent person), and the compassionate Alexei.
Your thoughts about, and examples of, this topic?
Misty the cat says: “As Robert Frost sort of noted, good Belgian blocks make good neighbors.”
My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )
This 90-second promo video for the book features a talking cat: 🙂
I’m also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…
…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more, including many encounters with celebrities.
In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about a lingering snow-dump fiasco, an immigrant-protection vote, an animal-protection vote, and an upcoming election, all with a dose of Hemingway and the band Rush — is here.
Dave Astor on Literature 