RELATIONS OF DOMINANCE AND EQUALITY IN D. H. LAWRENCE

to reconcile the children with the father, because as Lawrence
says, "He would dearly have liked the children to talk to him,
but they could not." (p.81)
And the wife tries to make the
children go to the father: "... 'You ought to tell your father.'
... 'Now you'd better tell your father when he comes in, 'said
Mrs Morel, 'You know how he carries on and says he's never told
anything."' (ibid.)
The example of an 'interaction' is the prize
Paul wins in a competition because of one of his paintings, and
following his mother's advice, he tries to tell his father.
But
conversation breaks down between them.
Walter cannot say much.
Paul cannot be convincing in his effort to talk with his father
mainly because of Paul's contempt for him.
They exchange a few
meaningless words, just for the sake of not being silent.
This
lack of emotion, of companionship in the family makes the
atmosphere of the house become as heavy as a storm about to fall
on the earth.
The Morels' home is a 'house of waiting'.
It seems there
is an enormous bomb ready to explode in the middle of the house.
This 'waiting' means the state of tension in which people are
just silent, frightened, scared and willing to know whether it is
time for the detonation to occur: "The minutes ticked away.
At
six o'clock still the cloth lay on the table, still the dinner
stood waiting, still the same sense of anxiety and expectation in
the room." (p.80)
The sense of hatred against the father is shared with the
family.
The poor father is seen as if he were a monster which
could devour all the 'victims' at once, if he were bothered.
Silently the family dismisses the father with their hate.
It
would be better if Morel just died in order to free the family.
It is a terrible feeling for the family to have.
Morel is really