Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt

 

For those that don't know, I go to church every Sunday and recently the story of the prodigal son has come across me these past weeks not just at church but now at school: last week I was helping my friend analyze his poem and it turned out that it actually made references to the prodigal son. Two weeks ago, I was at church planning a field trip, and I got assigned to plan a lesson explaining the story of the prodigal son. Just yesterday, my other friend asked me to explain the story of the prodigal son, and today, the first image I came across was the Prodigal Son. Lowkey, encountering this bible story too many times this month is scaring me. Is God sending me a signal? Should I be a better child? ...Anyways, too many encounters with this story have led me to write about it for this blog post.

As soon as I saw the picture of the Return of The Prodigal Son by Rembrandt, I immediately thought of the first stanza of the poem my group picked: The World is a Beautiful Place.

 

Now, what does this poem have to do with the image of the prodigal son? Well, in the image of the prodigal son, it is clear that the son is crying to his father and he is asking for forgiveness (luke 15:11-32), portraying the irony of the poem of how the world isn't always "very much happy". The story behind the painting talks about how the younger son, AKA the prodigal son, asked for his inheritance earlier and then went on to explore the world, spending everything he had, trying out new things, and separating from his morals and values. Again, portraying the poem's lines of "If you don't mind a touch of hell now and then," the prodigal son encouraged sin while on his journey, even though he had been raised by good principles. These unexpected encounters with evil show how the world isn't always a beautiful place because even the most innocent can't escape from the atrocities of the world. 

Anyways, back to my analysis of the painting. It is clear that the son is asking for forgiveness, and the father is readily accepting. However, on the back of the painting, there is a person who seems to be listening to what's happening but doesn't want to come out. I'm gonna guess that's the older brother. In the bible, it says that  "he was angry and refused to go" because he was jealous about his father celebrating his return and making a feast. The older brother was envious because the father had never done a feast for him, even though he was the son who always listened and obeyed. Due to this, the father says, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found." The painting's darkness creates a sense of dark mood, representing jealousy. However, it is the father's red clothes that represent forgiveness. 

The story of the prodigal son is kind of like the story of The Alchemist as well as Siddartha. Even though one is the Bible, while Siddartha has Hinduism, they both portray the philosophy of corruption and false expectations. In addition, both include lessons like money and wealth do not lead to happiness.