Written by Hairong
In the new God of War: Ragnarok, we saw Kratos grow as a single father. As a child in a single-parent household who rarely experienced fatherhood, the relationship was somewhat contradictory for me. On the one hand, it made me feel curious about fatherhood; on the other hand, it made me reflect on my own experience. If fatherhood is like this, would it be better for children not to have such an experience? In the process of playing the game, I had some new thoughts.
In the last game, Kratos and Atreus were living in a father-son relationship because of the death of their mother, Faye, and together they scattered her ashes to the highest place in the Nine Realms. In this one, they experienced the war against Odin together, and as Atreus grew up, he let his father gradually understand his feelings and new possibilities.
As a traditional father figure, Kratos, in the father-son relationship, initially tends to show his strength and domination (both in battle and in the father-son relationship). His lack of understanding of Atreus’s feelings and commanding tone toward Atreus caused Atreus to leave him. A moment before the battle, he calmly said that back in his time, when confronted with the father-son relationship, he only knew obedience. This seems to imply that Atreus is now behaving like a disobedient little soldier; this will be a significant pitfall in the war with Odin. But in fact, each of Atreus’ actions offered new possibilities for ending the war; he wanted to solve the problem with understanding and compassion and ultimately desired his father’s compliments. However, Kratos always wanted to show his power when confronted with the advice of a small child. For example, he yelled at Atreus during an argument.
After his son left home in a rage, the elderly father finally seemed to realize the mistakes of his ways. He had a dream about his wife, Faye, in which a conversation with her led him to discover what he thought about himself. He cared for his son, but his overprotective and commanding tone had taken things in the opposite direction. He got back on his feet and looked for his lost son, and this time he embraced Atreus as they sat down to discuss the plan’s feasibility. After solving Fenrir’s problem, he reveals for the first time what he thinks of Atreus. In his interactions with Atreus, he discovered that he could be a better person, despite his bloodily bathed past. Although the father was much taller than the son at this time, their relationship had become equal.
In real life, I have felt grateful countless times that I have not experienced traditional fatherhood. More often than not, I have seen the absence of fathers in the parent-child relationship and the emotional abuse of their children. After watching Avatar: The Way of Water, I was reminded of this even more heavily. Although God of War: Ragnarok still discussed fatherhood in the mother’s absence, I saw a new kind of father-child relationship or parent-child relationship as it was meant to be. It is a relationship of equality, mutual companionship, of witnessing growth.