Due to some basic differences in nature Adolf and his father Ellis could not get along well.
One of the reasons of their tense relationship was that after retirement from service Ellis had started living at home all the time. He did no work. His wife Clara had to manage the family in whatever pension he received which was not enough. It created problems for her. She used to be always worrying and woeful.
To make matters worse the sickness had made the old man ill tempered. He rebuked and mistreated Clara to make her miserable. It would anger Adolf who really loved his mother.
He could see that his father Ellis was responsible for the miseries of his mother.
Ellis wanted Adolf to study the subjects which could get him a high posting in the government service. That is why he got his son Adolf admitted in Ryalschule school. He had himself suffered the humiliations of being a lower rung servant. So seeing Adolf a high grade officer was his dream. He saw no use of pursuing fine arts or classical branches of the education.
But Adolf had different ideas. He saw no point in becoming a government servant and mortgaging life to a boring routine. The very thought of everyday getting up and preparing himself to reach office at fixed time, remaining tied to a chair and table shuffling files and returning home at the same time every evening to go through domestic routine was boring. For Adolf a civil servant was like a dog perpetually chained to a desk who had no time to think of the country or society and no capacity to realise the joys of the artistic ventures or to undertake challenging endeavours.
Adolf wanted to become an artist, a painter to give subtle expressions to his ideas, thoughts, perceptions reactions and emotions. The nature attracted the budding artist in him like a magnet. He would quickly finish his homework after school and go out to enjoy the company of the nature.
Adolf protested, “Father, I don’t want to become a government servant.”
The father appeared shocked. He muttered something under his breath and asked, “You don’t want to be an officer! Then what do you want to become?”
“I want to be a painter,” Adolf softly revealed.
“A painter!” The father shook his head in despair and spat in disgusted voice, “Are you out of your mind, Adolf! Don’t you see how miserable painters are? Like beggars they walk on the streets in tattered clothes with starved faces carrying arm loads of their worthless pictures no one would buy even for a whistle. Do you want to become one of them?”
Adolf controlled his anger.
“Father, I don’t want to waste my life tied to a chair. I would prefer to do something creative and more meaningful.”
“Meaningful, huh!” the father mocked, “I think some Marxist has put that stupid idea in your mind,” he said accusingly. He stared at Adolf.
“No Marxist has anything to do with it. Infact I hate Marxists. They are destroying our country,” Adolf was quick to defend himself. In the process he revealed his own dislike for the communists.
“O boy! So you dislike communists!” Ellis remarked in surprise and added a query, “What makes you hate them? Where have you read about what they were doing?”
Adolf proudly said, “I read books on Bismarck and Greman history. Also some philosophy literature.”
“Philosophy! I see…then it is that philosophy rubbish which is infecting your mind with stupid ideas like becoming a no good painter. Boy, you will ruin yourself. There is nothing in it except growing long hair and beard…walking the streets on empty stomach…with brushes in your hand like a deuced one…!”
Ellen was panting and wheezing as he ranted on angrily. Adolf avoided fuelling his anger by saying anything further. He knew that his father would take out all his anger on his poor mother.
He quietly withdrew from his father’s room and went back to his cabin and resumed the study of ‘How to paint pictures’, a guide book. Adolf was determined to chart his own course.
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