The Parable of the Prodigal Son

And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, “Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.” And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

And he answering said to his father, “Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.”

And he said unto him, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”

From Luke 15:11-32 in the Authorised (‘King James’) Version of the Bible (1611).
Précis
When the prodigal’s elder brother learnt the reason for the merrymaking, he was resentful: despite years of filial service, no one had ever done as much for him. But he had enjoyed all the comforts of home, his father reminded him, and the inheritance was now all his; he could afford to be happy that his family was together again.
Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

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