Sons and Lovers - D. H. Lawrence

D. H. Lawrence is regarded as one of the most visionary and greatest English novelists in 20th century. The way I see it, he deals with some kind of conflicts that actually representative serious problems in his life through writing his novels. And he tries to find the ideal solutions or answers of his own problems by using literally techniques. His techniques are arts in his writing procedure. The validity of the solution to his problems depends on the validity of his technique: one of them is "symbolism". "Sons and Lovers", his second great novel, is most likely autobiographical and "symbolic" work. Lawrence's father was an illiterate miner, on the other hand, his mother was a well-educated teacher, who came from a middle-class family. According to the strict class system of England at that time, his mother's marriage to his father was considered as a kind of step down. Hence the great difference and some kind of frictions between his father and mother were caused. In this story, Gertrude Morel, the character based on Lawrence's mother, is a mother who has a desire to have full possession of her son, Paul. She prevents him from establishing the relations with other women. Lawrence himself actually had an unusual close attachment to his mother. The story also depicts the English working class at the turn of the century, when industrialism was rising its ugly head and creeping on the countryside. In this novel, a town where Lawrence set in is also similar to where he was born. "Sons and Lovers" gives a realistic portrayal of the conflicts and difficulties of a mining family, the Morels, which symbolizes Lawrence's family.