RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

46
does not reject the father from the beginning.
He is the only
one who seems to belong to both father and mother:
They called the baby Arthur. He was very pretty,
with a mop of gold curls, and he loved his father
from the first. Mrs Morel was glad this child
loved the father. Hearing the miner's footsteps,
the baby would put up his arms and crow. And if
Morel was in a good temper, he called back
immediately in his hearty, mellow voice... (p.63 -
My underlining)
However, this 'ceasefire' is as short as the life of a
soap bubble. It really does not last any longer. A new battle
begins.
This time it involves the children, especially William
who confronts his father because of a swollen eye Mrs Morel has
got from Walter.
In the confrontation he calls his father a
coward, and Morel cannot stand being challenged by his own son.
They become murderously aggressive: "Another word, and the men
would have begun to fight. Paul hoped they would. The three
children sat pale on the sofa." (p.77 - My underlining).
The
conflict here has a close connection with the Oedipus complex: it
is the rivalry between son and father because of the mother.
The
fight ends with Mrs Morel's interference.
The battlefield . (though the winner is already known) of
the Morels'- home changes from one place to another.
The family
moves to another house, away from the Bottoms where they used to
live.
The new home brings a new element of a very deep symbolism:
"In front of the house was a huge old ash tree.
The west wind,
sweeping away from Derbyshire, caught the houses with full force,
and the tree shrieked again.” (ibid.).
It means joy for Morel
and hate for the children.
The sound of the wind shrieking in the ash tree is like
music for the father, but the children identify the noise with
the coming fight of their parents.
It means the father is