In the annals of literary history, there are many examples of the tortured soul anti-hero; i.e. Prince Hamlet, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, etc. We are drawn to them specifically because they are not your run-of–the mill male protagonists who win the day. Rather, they are flawed to such a degree that we, as the reader or the viewer are often afraid, that they may never find the peace and joy we desire for them.

There are three such characters on the canvas of “All My Children” these days, and these last weeks we have watched them go through the tortures of their own individual, in some respects self-created, hell. I am referring to Zach Slater, Zoe, and JR Chandler.

As I think about each of them, a line from Shakespeare’s “King Lear” keeps running through my mind; “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth than it is to have an ungrateful child.” The more I think on this, the more apropos the verse seems to be for all three men; as each one of them grew up under the thumbs of controlling fathers, who demanded total loyalty, and total obedience. Within these demands was the implicit directive that none of these sons could expect to establish their own sense of identity; without causing their male parent’s extreme distress and disapproval. When each of these young men chose another path, they were seen as ungrateful, foolhardy and worthless to their fathers.

Before delving into each son’s choices and the results of those choices, let’s look deeply at their similarities.

I have often said that if people have to pay for a license to have a dog, drive a car, or run a legitimate business, then people should be required to take at least a series of parenting classes, and pay for the license to procreate; before they actually bring an innocent child into this world.

Such should have been the case with Alexander Cambias Sr., Mr. Luper Sr., and Adam Chandler Sr.

• None of these three men have the temperament to even participate in the sensitive raising of any child. They are controlling, ego-maniacal, self-centered and vindictive creatures.
• All three men apparently learned their lack of parenting skills from their own fathers; who unfortunately didn’t have the vaguest idea of how to raise strong, individual male children.
• Each man saw their male child as an extension of themselves; not as a separate individual, but as the next page in their own history, or legacy.
• Each man has used emotional (read guilt, shame, disloyalty), and on occasion, physical intimidation to exact their desired responses from their sons.
• This being the case, each son was forced by their parent’s demands to run away in some fashion. This was necessary in order for them to participate in their own period of self-discovery, and the establishment of an identity beyond their father’s.

Having established this pattern of behavior let’s look at each man to see who and what they became without their father’s influence, and how they have suffered because of it.