Re: Parental Influence

Bruderhof News wrote:

> Bruderhof wrote:
> 
>> Bruderhof News wrote:
>> 
>>> Bruderhof wrote:
>>> 
>>>> It is hard to decide which of Eberhard’s parents most influenced
>>>> him since the two relationships differed considerably. His father
>>>> devoted himself first and foremost to his own studies. During
>>>> Eberhard’s boyhood years Carl Franklin Arnold was chiefly occupied
>>>> with the history of the Gallic Church under Caesar the Arelate II.
>>>> Later he studied the Salzburg Protestants and their expulsion by
>>>> Archbishop Firmian in the eighteenth century. He habitually
>>>> withdrew to his study, only emerging at mealtimes. When he invited
>>>> company it was almost always other university professors or senior
>>>> students, with whom he would have heated discussions. 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> Each morning the family gathered and Carl Franklin Arnold read from
>>> the Moravian Brethren’s daily texts. In the evening he treated his
>>> children, some of whom had not even reached school age, to “The
>>> Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and other poetic works of Goethe, whom he
>>> greatly admired. Neither the daily texts nor Goethe’s poetry seem to
>>> have made any lasting impression on the children; presumably for the
>>> little ones it all simply passed over their heads. But as they grew
>>> older, their father expected them to participate in intellectual
>>> discussions on topics ranging from the cultural history of the
>>> eighteenth century and the German idealism of Fichte, Schelling, and
>>> Schleiermacher to the intellectual prowess of Carlyle and Macaulay.
>>> Carl Franklin Arnold’s enthusiasm for the German philosophers was
>>> summed up in his harsh censure of those closing years of the
>>> nineteenth century: “Our era is extremely boring as far as any
>>> higher thought is concerned. Since Bismarck’s day our policies have
>>> been thoroughly stupid, if not fundamentally flawed.”
>>> 
>> 
>> Eberhard’s father rarely relaxed or enjoyed himself. He could be 
>> cheerful, even happy, but for the most part reserved these emotions
>> for family celebrations. Surprisingly, he raised no objections to the
>> children’s absorption in the wildly fanciful adventure stories of
>> Karl May. Eberhard crafted the fine art of smuggling these books –
>> full of Arabian mystique or Native-American suspense – into the
>> Sunday church service. But his father had little understanding for
>> children’s nonsense. “You are intellectually dead,” he once informed
>> his offspring when he caught them in trivial conversation.
>> 
> 
> Eberhard’s mother had a more practical nature. She highly respected
> her husband’s erudition, but from time to time questioned the point of
> his endless research, or would have liked to see more of him – “You
> should have been a monk,” she would say. A hospitable woman who
> enjoyed company, Elisabeth Arnold was always full of bustling
> activity, a trait she passed on to her son. Her husband permitted her
> – although not entirely voluntarily – the unrestricted control of her
> household. This required considerable organization, since it totaled
> nine members: the parents, five children, and two maids. Elisabeth
> Arnold insisted that her children be careful and thorough. It was
> usually late evening before she allowed herself to relax and to read
> newspapers and magazines. Her manner towards others was very direct
> and could even appear unfeeling, though in fact she was warmhearted
> and quite approachable. Unlike her husband, she possessed a vein of
> ironic humor. She was tall, blonde, and blue-eyed. Eberhard wrote
> about his mother’s unusually penetrating gaze, apparently without any
> idea that many people saw the same from his eyes. 
> 

In spite of her strictness, Elisabeth Arnold always maintained a good 
relationship with her children and never let a rift develop between 
them.11 Carl Franklin Arnold, on the other hand, in his eagerness to 
foster intellectual discussion, was ready to push things to extremes, 
even when the children were quite young. All in all, Eberhard and his 
siblings went through a strenuous but markedly successful course of 
character building.