After the First is a parable - a story that has a moral or teaches a lesson. To figure out the moral of the film, ask yourself what lesson Steve's father wanted him to learn. What lesson did his mother want him to learn? How do you know her feelings? What did Steve actually learn? Then decide what the film taught you.
29 comments:
After watching the film, i learned that you cant judge something, or have a dead set opinion of how something is, untill you experience it first hand. The kid thought hunting would be awesome, and he was all excited to do it, but then when he finaly killed a bunny, he was heartbroken that he had killed an innocent bunny.
I think the mother and the father had two different agendas that day. The mother wanted to to shield him from this transition because she did not believe he was mature enough to handle the situation. His father on the other hand felt he was ready and wanted him to understand the dangers of being able to take a life. Steve learned that he will never be ready to take an innocent life. I learned that it is unfair to judge someone based on other people. His parents both based their son on themselves and other boys but did not take the time to talk to him.
I agree with brian and I think that both the parents had anticipated in their own way how the kid would react, the mother was correct in thinking that he wasnt ready, and the father assumed that the kid would be just like him, and be fine with it. But instead he became very sad.
Both of the parents assumed that what they felt about the situation was what was best for their kid. The mother was being a little over protective because obviously the kid was excited to shoot the gun. But the father just assumed that his son was ready and willing to kill something, which he was not. Brian was getting at the same idea when he mentioned how the parents were basing their son on themselves.
I feel as though the mother and father both have differing views on how to raise a child, in terms of being exposed to violence. The mother feels as though the son should not go hunting because he is not mature enough yet to handle hunting. But the father feels as though the son at twelve is mature enough to handle going out and killing another living creature.
I think that the mother and father had different intentions regarding Steve going hunting. The mother attempts to keep Steve away from hunting for fear that he would either be emotionally scarred or enjoy killing at age 12. The father attempts to shape Steve to his own liking, disregarding his age because of how he himself was raised by his father. Steve finds that killing innocent beings isn't in him and becomes very emotional about it. The film taught me that even if a child says they're ready to do something, as a parent you must be cautious, and try not to force your own personal sentiment upon them.
I disagree with brian's statement that Steve learned he will never be able to take an innocent life. It's obvious that he's not emotionally prepared to do it now, but as the father says, it gets easier and steve's opinion may change over time. However, I do agree with brian in that the parents should have talked to Steve beforehand and really made sure that he understood the situation and was prepared.
The lessons Steves father wanted to learn was how to survive and hunt. Although we did not see much of the mother i believe she wanted what was best for steve and showed concern for the activities him and his father where doing. Steve after all learned that he did not enjoy hurting the animal. What i learned was, we are all fast to asssume others will automatically agree wtih what we say. The mother thought he wouldnt enjoy hunting the father thought he would, and then i assumed everyone in my gruop shared my views withouth really considering what they thought.
Trevor... i like when you say the father trys shaping him to his own liking, because i believe alot of people push their beliefs on others and dont mean to.
Steve wanted to go hunting with his father very badly at the beginning of this film. At this point the mother didn't want Steve to go out and hunt with his father, because it was a dangerous activity and it's also an activity that most definitely isn't for everyone. While his mother was very concerned about him, his father was very relaxed about it saying "I went out first when I was 9". The mother and father have two opposing views on the subject but in the end it's up to Steve what's right for him. After he kills the rabbit he feels wrong for his actions of taking an innocent animal's life. From this film it's more reinforcement of don't jump into a situation before you are fully prepared to do it. Steve thought he was, but in the end he just ended up feeling terrible.
I do agree with Alyssa when she said we're fast to assume others will agree with us. Just because we think that it's a good idea doesn't mean that it is for others, such as Steve.
Steve's father wanted his son to experience what it was like to shoot a gun and hunt. He wanted him to learn how to handle it safely and hunt almost ruthlessly, it seems. His mother had different ideas and wasn't sure whether her son should be going out hunting at such a young age. Her body language and curt responses made it clear that she opposed Steven going out to hunt. In the end, Steve DID learn how to safely carry a gun and shoot at the target, whatever it was at the time. However, he realized he wasn't a killer and had misjudged himself. Clearly, one can't always expect things to go as they plan and everyone makes mistakes. No one can always predict how someone will feel about a certain event, even if their own reaction!
I agree with what Pat is saying: Steve wasn't "fully prepared" to take an animal's life. Meaning he wasn't emotionally ready and jumped the gun (no pun intended) on the situation. He feels terrible for killing the rabbit and realizes he was quick to judge himself.
I think that both parents in the movie thought they knew their son better than the other. The mother thought that her so was too young to go hunting while the father thought that the boy was more than old enough to go hunting. Steve thought at first that he would enjoy hunting. He soon found out that killing is not something that he was ready for, and he may never be ready for. The important part of this movie is what it meant to me though. Throughout the movie I made some conclusions about the characters, when I really don't know anything about them. I shows how you can't judge someone you don't even know.
I liked Anna's point that thing don't always go as planned. The father assumed the boy would enjoy the hunting trip, and it would be great. We should always be prepared for unexpected situations in life.
After watching the film I thought that the father wanted the son to understand that death is a natural part of life and there is no way around it. The mother wanted to protect her son from the dangers of death because she did not want her son to witness anything dying. From this film I learned that you should not judge people based on their actions but based on who they are as a person. I thought that the boy judged his father too quickly for killing the animal while they were hunting.
I agree with Brian that his mother wanted to protect his son and that his father believed that his son was ready to witness death. This shows that the parents had different views about death and when their son was of the right age to witness it.
In the beginning of the movie we see Steve’s mother and father talking about him going hunting. From their conversation we know that Steve’s mother does not feel good about him going out hunting at such a young age. The father on the other hand was sure he would be fine because he first started hunting at the age of 9, and could see Steve was excited. In my opinion I thought that the father wanted Steve to learn how to hunt, shoot, and overall learn how to do things on his own no matter how hard they may be. Steve’s mother on the other hand, I think she was hoping for Steve to learn how to make his own decisions and stop doing something that made him feel uncomfortable. After Steve pulls the trigger and shoots a bunny he gets a feeling afterward vs. shooting a stump. He realizes he has killed something small and innocent and in completely discouraged from hunting. The film taught me that you really don’t know how something is until you experience it and to not base someone else’s feelings off of your own.
I agree with Mike, that the father was trying to teach his son not only to hunt but death is a natural part of life and he should not be afraid of it.
What's interesting about the film is that the father was very clearly enthusiastic about his son hunting, and gave him encouragement. When his son becomes distressed after he shoots the rabbit, his father says that he knows how his son feels and that hunting gets easier with time. Had he just forgotten that before his son shot the rabbit? If so I think that the fathers fatal flaw is that he was to eager for his son to grow. He didn't stop to think about the difficulties in starting a new experience, especially one based on a signifigant degree of violence.
What this film was able to teach me was that one, over time periods things that parents might be eager to show there son or daughter something they were passionate about at there age, become harder and harder for those kids to understand why they are actually doing this. It also showed me that although the son was very eager to be like his father by hunting with him, he didnt think of the actual part of hunting before he went out there and killed a rabbit. To me one of the more important lessons in this film was that anyone at any age, who might be eager to do something for their first time, might not like so the expectations they should have should be limited to very little if not none.
I agree with brian on the fact that the agendas for the parents that day were completely opposite, and their expectations for the boy were solely based upon passed experience and other boys, but not their own son.
i feel as though the boy was not as mature as the father would have liked him to be. the father had it set in his mind that when you put a gun into a childs hand that he immediately transitions into a man and that was clearly not the case. The boy had it in his mind that this was going to be a fun activity and had a very immature outlook on the whole "gun" situation.
I agree with Pat that Steve wanted to go out and kill something because he thought that it would be a fun thing to do. His father told him that it would be a fun thing to kill something with a gun and he believed him instead of his mother who only wanted her son to remain innocent to the rest of the world. When he killed the bunny Steve learned what it meant to kill an innocent thing and he lost what his mother wanted to protect with him.
I think this film showed how you shouldn't judge something before you experience it for yourself. Everyone has different reactions to everything because everyone is unique. People are affected differently depending on the situation and their own personal experience. This movie showed that you should be cautious and thoughtful about everything you do because you don't know how it will affect you or someone else.
This film taught me that no one can be judged until you place yourself in their shoes. The fact that the kid was extremely excited for the hunt before and while he was shooting the gun and then was extremely petrified after he got his first kill just highlights that statement extremely. I also disagree with Brian because Steve is still a very young kid and maybe he will always be against hunting, but sooner or later he will understand the need to kill others or animals in certain situations as he grows up.
In After the First, I believe that Steve's father and mother had different opinions on how to handle the situation of gun handling. Steve's father seemed to want to teach him how to handle a gun and the powers of a gun. Steve's mother didn't see to want Steve to learn this yet because he wasn't mature enough. She seemed very hesitant and apprehensive watching Steve and his father walk away to the car. Steve ended up learning that he didn't like hunting and ending a life. This film taught me not to judge something or someone before you know everything about them or it. Like Steve, he was very excited to hunt but realized he didn't like it at all.
I agree with Zach's comment. I think the father was too eager to get his son into hunting. He forgot and didn't realize how shooting an animal may feel to a young boy who hasn't tried it before. He didn't take into consideration that the boy may act differently towards hunting than he did as a child.
After watching this film, I realized that you can't judge someone on what you think they believe. At first Steve seemed really excited about going with his father, who enjoys it a lot. Steve thought it would be fun until he realized that he didn't like to kill animals. He seemed emotionally upset when his father killed the first bunny. And when Steve killed one, he just wanted to go home. So his entire thoughts about hunting changed when he realized what it actually was.
I believe that Steve's mother and father had different views on Steve's rite of passage. Steve's mother want him to stay innocent from the feeling of taking an innocent life. She didn't believe he was ready for such an overwhelming experience. On the other hand Steve's father wanted to show him that it is morally right to take a life and the power that he holds when handling a gun. Steve actually learned that no matter how old he is killing is not for sport. The film taught me that you should not be quick to judge before you are fully aware of the necessary information. Once you obtain that information you have a clear mind you can make an opinion.
I think that the message we were suppose to take from the film was that we should not be to quick to judge people. In the film the father assumed that the son would be fine with taking another life but came to realize that he wasnt. As the viewers we also realized by the end of the film that we too had been judging them the entire time. I personally judged the father as being unaware of his actions and they affect they had on his son. I was judging him with out knowing anything about him and nothing about how the family is run
I think that the filmed showed that you can't be too quick to judge something. The boy thought hunting was going to be great until he and his father both killed a rabbit. He was then heartbroken and terrified. It is a great example of how something can seem amazing one second and awful the next.
I agree with Brian on how the parents were wrong to judge Steve based on what they believed instead of actually talking to him. His father should have warned him about what it is like to actually take an innocent life. It was unfair to Steve how his parents were so quick to make a decision and not sit him down and talk it through with him.
I disagree with Andrew. I don't think that his father wanted Steveto believe killing in an of itself was moral, or to have a power trip. And since the final words were "it gets easier with time." it seems very ambiguous to me whether or not Steve will hunt when he grows older.
abesnt
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