Images and Interpretation

In Hemans’ “Casabianca” the image of a loyal son is very prominent. It is tremendously invigorating to witness an account of such great faith, humility, and fear. All of these accounts are evident throughout the piece, where the recurrent theme seems to be of a son who is unwilling to abandon his duty because of the respect he possesses for his father. The images mostly present in the poem of battle scenes seem to be overshadowed by a boy’s strong characteristic traits. Although it is rather unlikely that an environment so vividly described is recessive, that is the case. Hemans manages to portray the image of a boy’s actions as more significant than that of a battle.
The most dominant and moving image in the poem is that of a boy unwilling to alter his ideals even in the interest of self-preservation. This image infers a great and profound message of what love and faith can have on an individual. The subject of the poem, the boy (or son), disregards the adversity of the situation he is in because of the love he has for his father. The conveyances of fortitude and loyalty portrayed in the poem are impeccable because of the possible factors of distraction. It is extraordinary how fear plays a factor in the circumstance, but also extraordinary how it is ignored. Meanwhile all seems to be falling apart around the boy; he displays no fear that can be directly attributed to the state of his surroundings. Wreckage is engulfing this boy’s surroundings, however, he still manages to dedicate himself to what he feels is important.
Although fear is not present in relation to the boy’s physical being along with his surroundings, it is very evident in an emotional and moral sense. The fear present for the character is not the fact that he may perish, but rather that he has not completed the tasks set forth by his father. The father’s inability to respond to his son’s queries creates a struggle for the boy that eventually contributes to his demise, meanwhile aiding in the revelation of the content of his (the boy’s) character. The author portrays both the beauty and burden that love and loyalty can have on a being through the character’s respect for his father. The poem “Casabianca,” however, more explicitly exemplifies an ideal of what the presence of faith, love, and humility can have on a being: that of the nullification of any physical or materialistic endeavor for one of morality and spirituality.