Saturday, October 5, 2013
What can we infer about Augustine as a father from what he tells us about his son in Book IX?
After reading Book IV, I see Augustine as a loving father figure whose relationship with his son, Adeodatus, was closer to that of a friendship, rather than a father son relationship. I believe Augustine to be a loving father because of the amount of space and time Augustine spends describing "the brilliance he [Adeodatus] evinced" (Book IV 6, 14). I view their relationship as a peer to peer relations because Augustine stated that he had "included him in the group, as our contemporary, in the life of your grace, to be schooled along with us in your doctrine." From reading Augustine's preceding books (6-8), the reader can correctly infer that Augustine's friends are learned intellectuals, and one can clearly see that many of them contributed to Augustine's search for Truth. Anybody that Augustine has included in "the group" must have been someone that Augustine had respected and treated as a friend. However one must keep in mind that it is difficult to make a completely accurate inference about Augustine as a father figure because of the lack of information Augustine provides pertaining to his son in the Confessions.
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A well thought out response, Ben. I think you are right; the reader certainly gets a sense that Adeodatus is included as an equal or as a "brother" in the discussions that the group of friends participate in. Certainly he seems to be a fellow-traveller with his father as he shares in his baptism and training in the doctrines of the church. I think we can correctly infer also, that although Augustine is very clear regarding the sinful nature of the relationship that gave rise to the birth of his son, we never sense any regret, shame or disgust directed to the boy himself. Clearly Augustine provides for his physical needs and his spiritual needs. There is a sense of sadness, however, regarding the "absence" of his nameless mother. We can only speculate about Augustine's decision to offer his readers such little information regarding her ultimate fate.
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