It's safe to say, that the advice given to Laertes from Polonius was pretty much saying that he should make friends, but to be discrete and careful of who he becomes friends with. "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; take each man's censure but reserve thy judgement" (Lns. 73-4). I feel like this means, just to be careful, as any parent would tell their child before they go off to college.I believe it is good advice, because there will always be bad people out there, so it's not smart to trust everyone. There is not much to know about what is serious in our culture, besides Obama making it less expensive to go to college, but using tax payers' money in the process.
I think Polonius does not trust Laertes, or does not deem him very responsible. He tells Reynaldo this in hope that he will spy on Laertes for him. "You laying these slight sullies on my son as 'twerve a thing a little soil'd the working" (Lns. 44-5). Pretty much, sending him out in the world, just not with his physical appearance, only someone else's. \
The way Polonius spies on Laertes is like the way parents spy on their kids, when they put tracker's into their phones. Kids do what they are supposed to, but the trust is lacking. I think it is unncecessay, but maybe the child has done something to be not trusted.
I like your post and I agree that Polonius did give pretty good advice and he does not think of Laertes as responsible. Many parents these days have a hard time trusting their kids and do use a kind of tracker on their cell-phone. Parents lack of trust in their kids may not always be for a reason, it could just be the way they are. Parents are just worried about the safety of their kids and want to be there for them.
ReplyDeleteI would agree agree with your post except the tracking device, that's just a tad bit too extreme for a parent to do as their child goes off to be independent. True the trust is lacking, its as if they were still their just in digital mode. But yes, most parents do have some way of spying upon their college children. I know one my parents have done to my brother is showing up unexpectedly. Boy was that a sight to see
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