Clearly, in this story, the son is devoted to his father. The crazy thing is that his father only thinks this at the beginning of the story, by the end his thoughts have changed. When you look at it from the son's point of view, he is devoted to the end. The only thing he tries to do is please his father, but his father doesn't see it the same way he does. This is pretty obvious when the father says, “Keep your tonic – I don’t want it – I don’t want it – I won’t take it anymore – of your medicine.” None. Never." (Page 1429, lines 8-9) I think this happens often in our lives too. It's also an inexplicable feeling, there's not much you can do about it. Some people just don't think you are as you should be while you do This story only highlights the different views on this, no one will agree on devotion in any area..