Sibling Rivalry “In Discussion: Proposing a Solution to the Prodigal Son” “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. ” (Page 304). The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a passage from the bible. Luke wrote it and in the literature book it is chapter 15 verses 11-32. The prodigal Son is about a father and two sons. The older son is responsible, while the younger one just wants the money that he inherits now. The money he inherits is ten million dollars. The dad gives him the money and the son runs off. He blows all the money and is forced to get a job.
His job is feeding pigs. The son will soon become so desperate to eat that he will eat the food for the pigs. The son decides that it is time to return home. The father sees the son coming up the drive and gets very happy. During this time the older brother is out working. He works for his father. When he decides to come in for the night he hears commotion and asks a servant what is going on. The servant sys that his brother has come home and his father has thrown him a party. Clearly, there is a problem. There is actually lots of problems, but the one problem that is the biggest is that the older brother gets treated unfairly.
The thing is that the older brother takes his emotion out on the father not the younger brother. One solution is that when the younger brother came home he shouldn’t have gotten the party. Without the party The Parable of the Prodigal Son by Luke chapter 15 would teach the younger brother a lesson, show him work ethic, and responsibility. With this solution the younger brother would get taught a lesson. With the way the father acts makes the younger brother think that he can act however he wants and get away with it. The older son is responsible and the younger brother says, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. (Page 302). From here the father divides up his livings.
The solution I proposed would work here. The father could have told the boy to get back to work and he can earn his inheritance. The father gives into the younger son. After the son gets his money he departs on a journey into a far country. The son only returns when he is desperate and completely out of money. I will give credit to the son for requesting to be a servant and to work for his food. The father just gladly takes the son back and throws him a party. Now the son thinks that he can run off and waste ten million dollars only to come back homes have a party.
This whole time the older brother is working outside. The younger brother would get taught work ethic as well. It is obvious that the older brother knows what work ethic is. The definition of work ethic is the principle that hard work is intrinsically virtuous or worthy of reward. I think that the older brother deserves the best robe. The younger son obviously doesn’t know what work ethic is. The passage states, “And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. ” (Page 302).
Within days the son had so more money and was forced to get a job. At least at this job the younger son was able to learn a little bit of work ethic. Soon the son gets tired of the job and decides that it is time to return home. Not only would this teach the younger brother a lesson and work ethic, but also about responsibility. Responsibility is not only showing up to work on time or even getting a job. Responsibility is the state or fact of having a duty to deal with. The younger son shows a sense of responsibility when he says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. (Page 302).
The older son has learned about responsibility and has taken his on very well. He states, “Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. ” (Page 304). The older brother wants to know that he is respected and honored for his work. The younger brother needs to be taught a lesson, work ethic, and responsibility in The Parable of the Prodigal Son by Luke chapter 15.
He reason the father has the party is pretty clear. The father is happy his youngest son is still alive. Since he ran off once he got the inheritance and the family didn’t hear from him they weren’t quite sure if he was still alive. The party was nice but it made the older brother feel disrespected. cheated, unappreciated, and most of all neglected. The older brother had to ask a servant what was going on in his own family’s house. And he didn’t even get any money like the younger brother did. The main solution would be for the father not to through the party and put the son to work.
