Well Done Son Guy / Literature

People desperately seeking parental approval in Literature.

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• In Almost Perfect (2014), Benny's self-absorbed mom is constantly skipping her visits with him. Benny is convinced that if he and his dog Breaker win Westminster, she'll finally stop ignoring him. In the past he's come up with various other plans to win her approval, like getting a black belt in karate, winning a skateboard championship, and earning a basketball trophy, all of which ended when it became clear that Benny had no aptitude for any of those things. However, he actually does turn out to have a talent for handling dogs, and he succeeds so well in getting his mom's attention that she sues for custody of him. He quickly realizes that she sees him as a Meal Ticket, and he gives up on his fantasy of a close relationship with her.
• Annals of the Western Shore: Orrec is eager to please his father as a young child, but grows more restive as he gets older and the Caspro gift continually fails to manifest — which is bad news since you need the gift to be a brantor. He grows increasingly desperate until he's struck with Power Incontinence.
• Chinese Cinderella: Adeline constantly tries to get approval from everyone in the household. Feeling honored to play with her siblings, anyone?

• Ciaphas Cain: A background character is mentioned in the footnotes to have had a difficult relationship with his father (an officer in the Planetary Defense Forces) due to joining the Arbites instead. Fortunately, after the son acquits himself honorably during a Chaos invasion (read: kills a Khornate cultist mid-radio conversation) they make up.
• Jochi in the Conqueror books is constantly trying to gain some small measure of the respect his father Genghis Khan showers on his younger brothers. No matter how successful as a warrior and general Jochi is, he never gets more than a reluctant, grunting acknowledgment that he's done something right.
• In The Dinosaur Lords, villainous count Falk is one of the finest warriors of the Empire, yet has something of a masochistic relationship with his mother. He despises her, yet craves her approval; he desperately wants her to appreciate his accomplishments, yet knows it will never happen; he tries anyway.
• East of Eden: Cyrus Trask is this to his son Charles, who's The Unfavorite. Thanks to Generation Xerox, his brother Adam becomes this to his own eldest son, Cal.
• Everest (2002): Perry is a well-done nephew guy, as he feels unqualified to climb Mount Everest (an opinion many of the people he is competing alongside of share) and is terrified of the mountain, but he is convinced that his famous climber Cool Uncle would never understand if he quit, and so he perseveres throughout training and beyond. Surprisingly, his uncle is completely understanding and sympathetic once he learns how Perry feels, but by then, now that he feels like he has a choice, Perry has decided he wants to see the expedition through.
• In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie senselessly pursues both his parents after he becomes a genius, hoping that they'll be impressed by his newfound intelligence and finally acknowledge him. He's ashamed of this, but it's deeply embedded in his personality since he always thought that his parents would love him if he became "smart". In the end, he was unable to reveal his identity to his father, his mother was too senile to appreciate it, and he ended up losing his intelligence anyway. At least his sister was proud of him.
• Harry Potter:
  • Throughout the series, Neville Longbottom is the Butt-Monkey, the lamest, most pathetic wizard in existence. All he wants is to live up to his parents' legacy, and it's mentioned how his grandmother was so ashamed of his clumsiness. Then, after his actions in both the Battle at the Ministry and in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, his grandma finally tells him how proud she is of him, and how he's just like his parents.
  • Ron Weasley has always been overshadowed by his brothers and simply wants to be set apart, and earn the recognition of his parents. However, the Weasley family is an extremely loving one, so while he doesn't necessarily feel "special" in their eyes, he does know that he's loved.
  • Draco Malfoy obviously worships his father and is constantly trying to live up to his considerable reputation.
  • Barty Crouch, Jr. It eventually led him to join Voldemort.
• In Orson Scott Card's Homecoming Saga, protagonist Nafai longs for the love and approval of his eldest brother, Elemak. He knows this isn't very rational, as Elemak is an openly bullying Jerkass who sees Nafai as a useless mama's boy responsible for ruining his life and would happily crush his head with a rock.
• Kindling Ashes: Corran's every action is driven by his desire to prove to his father that he is his father's son and become a dragonslayer. His father disowning him drives him over the Despair Event Horizon.
• Michael in the Knight and Rogue Series struggles in the first book to try and stave off his father's disapproval for the life he chose. When his father has him marked as an unredeemable criminal to try and force a 'better' life on him in the second book he claims that he's stopped caring, but in the third book when trying to escape death one of the things that unlocks his 'needs' driven magic is his desire to prove to his father that he can make it.
• May the Best Man Win: Lukas has spent his whole childhood as The Unfavorite to his older brother Jason. Since Jason's death a few months ago, his parents' marriage has been falling apart. Lukas hopes that if he becomes Homecoming King and gets accepted into a top college, he can finally earn his parents' pride and save their marriage.
• Mercedes Lackey's works:
  • In The Black Swan, a retelling of Swan Lake, Odile is one of these. When she finally realizes Baron von Rothbart is only using her for her magical potential, she turns on him.
  • In the Last Herald-Mage Trilogy, Vanyel spends a great deal of his life trying to be heroic enough to get his father to accept him as a person, thanks to his "flaw" of being gay.
  • In the Collegium Chronicles, Lena Marchand is a female example, desperate for her father's approval. It doesn't help that Master Bard Tobias Marchand is an egotistical Jerkass who doesn't even recognize Lena when they accidentally run into each other at the beginning of Intrigues.
  • Princess Andromeda spends most of One Good Knight as a Well Done Daughter Girl. As it turns out (and as anyone with a passing knowledge of mythology will know), Queen Cassiopeia is not a nice person.
  • Silverblade, Tadrith, and Keenath (from The Silver Gryphon) are all examples in different ways. Tadrith is frustrated with the default "he's almost as good at X as Skandranon" "compliments" he gets from everyone, and wants his father to see him as an independent gryphon. Keenath loves Skan but knows he has nothing in common with his father. Silverblade is simply convinced that Amberdrake will never be able to accept Blade's chosen life path.
  • Subverted in Winds of Fate with Darkwind and his father. In his youth, Darkwind was close to his parents. But when the Heartstone was sabotaged, and Darkwind's mother died, his father turned against him. It turns out that Darkwind's father is Mind Controlled by the Big Bad and is deliberately trying to drive his son away to protect him, in the only way he can. When the spell is broken, Darkwind is amazed at the change in his personality and wonders how he could have failed to notice.
• The Lord of the Rings: As noted in the Film category, Faramir was The Unfavorite, though he fared better than his movie counterpart. By the time we see them interact, Faramir is more or less resigned to it and just does his job as best he can. Even so, his father's constant remarks that Boromir was a way better son makes Faramir lose his temper enough to remind Denethor that it was his order which sent Boromir away in the first place. There is also a displaced desire for this with Beregond, who laments that his fellow soldiers don't rank Faramir as Boromir's equal simply because Faramir is more scholarly than his brother was, and to them, that translates as "not as good a warrior" even though it's not true at all.
• In Steve Perry's Matador Series: Black Steel, it's revealed that the brash revolutionary Sleel is the son of the two most famous botanists alive — who are both Absent Minded Professors who care only about their work. Sleel's father, in particular, is very dismissive of everything his son has ever achieved since it doesn't involve botany or genetic engineering. Sleel has known all this from childhood, but can't help trying to get their acknowledgment and approval when visiting them during the course of the book.
• In The Monster Garden, Frankie and David's father is distant and aloof and mostly leaves them to be raised by the housekeeper, Mrs Drake. David thinks he's not as good in his father's eyes as their older brothers Ben and Mike, and Frankie thinks he's a chauvinist who didn't want a daughter. David steals some mystery goo from the lab in the hopes of earning his approval by conducting experiments on it, and Frankie blackmails David into giving her some for the same reason.
  Frankie: I wanted to show my father that girls were as good as boys any day of the week. Better, in fact. I wanted him to notice me, not just pat me on the head and mumble and walk away. That's why I did it.
• The Mummy Monster Game: Female variant in Amy, who's obsessed with having her mother notice her and acknowledge her achievements in school.
• The Neverending Story: After his wife's death, Bastian's father became emotionally distant and Bastian couldn't figure out how to even get him to care about him anymore.
• In One of Us is Lying Cooper's father is thrilled that he's a star pitcher and has talent scouts interested. His pride over this doesn't fade even when his son is a murder suspect and accused of using steroids. When Cooper is outed as gay, however...
  • Knox, in the sequel. He has five older sisters but no brothers. His father, a self-made businessman with a construction company, sees him as a video game-obsessed wastrel and raves about a young employee, Nate, as if he'd rather have him as a son instead. He warms up after Knox helps catch a killer and prevents multiple deaths from a bomb.
• The Pale King. Chris is fully aware of how disappointed his father is in him, but is usually too stoned or selfish to care. It's not until his father dies that Chris feels guilty enough to change his life. This is made depressingly clear when the father comes home early to find Chris and his buddies in his living room, high out of their minds, surrounded by discarded Taco Bell wrappers, and their feet resting lazily on one of his prized pieces of furniture. The father doesn't yell; he simply says, Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!, walks into his bedroom, and shuts the door.
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians:
  • Plenty of demigods long for their godparent to acknowledge them. Especially Percy. Grover even says it when he tried to deny it.
    You're glad that your dad is alive. You feel good that he's claimed you and part of you wants to make him proud. That's why you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus. You want him to notice what you'd done.
  • Luke took this even more seriously. Many children of Hermes tend to feel very ignored, considering they get put with all 'the others', meaning those who aren't claimed. Furthermore, Hermes accidentally caused Luke's mother's mental deterioration and left the boy to be raised by her. Eventually Luke became so bitter that he changed sides and tried to take down the gods. Although eventually, he had a last-minute change of heart and sacrificed himself. Percy even makes it a rule that all gods and goddesses must claim their children so that less of this kind of thing will happen. Considering that in this series, Winston Churchill was the son of Poseidon, it means he got a double-dose: both his biological father and his step-father.
• Lt Armstrong from Phule's Company is revealed to have been that. By the start of the series, his father is long dead and it's clear to Armstrong that the approval never was an option, but he's already so set in his by-the-book ways that he has long become a caricature of an officer. He ends up in The Omega Company.
• Will from Ranger's Apprentice grew up an orphan; his father-figure is Halt, his mentor. Gaining Halt's approval means more to Will than anything — even just a small smile from Halt means more to Will than any amount of praise his friends and his king laud on him.
• In Relativity, Ravenswood is an alcoholic and a failure for most of his life. When he climbs out of it and becomes a successful coffee shop owner, his father is still unimpressed. Unfortunately, he can't tell his father anything about his really impressive accomplishments, because he needs to keep his superhero identity secret.
• In the Sabina Kane series Sabina's main motivation for most of her life has been to earn at least the respect of her grandmother Lavinia, the ruler of all vampires and her only living family member. By the end of the first book she's determined that not only does her grandmother not give half a hump whether she lives or dies, but that the Dominae, in general, is not worthy of her respect either.
• Heather Acosta from the Sammy Keyes books qualifies. Heather's relationship with her mother and father is a far cry from what Sammy has with her grandmother. Her mom seems to be going through some sort of mid-life crisis and her father admitted that he'd want a restraining order against her. The fact the Casey seems to be their father's favorite has led to some problems (among other things) between the siblings. It's been hinted in the series that this may be the reason why Heather act's out — to gain attention.
• Jeb's son Ari becomes this in School's Out -- Forever, hanging out with the copycat Max to make Jeb mad, and also coming up with a plan to take Max for his own. The plan eventually gets Jeb to notice him, which makes him happy enough to go out and steal a Game Boy. So...
• Chase from The Silence of Murder feels like his father, Sheriff Wells, is always disappointed in him. When Coach Johnson made him starting pitcher, his father was so proud he bought fireworks to celebrate. Chase was thrilled to have finally earned his approval. When he was removed from the roster due to his poor batting skills, he got so angry that he smashed Coach Johnson in the head with Jeremy's bat, killing him.
• A Song of Ice and Fire:
  • Tywin Lannister plays this role; the desire to please him pushes Tyrion and Jaime, though neither would admit it. As is typical of the series, Tywin never provides validation, especially for Tyrion. Well, not the typical form of validation. This leads to him contracting an unfortunate fatal case of crossbow-bolt-through-bowels at the hands of, naturally, his son Tyrion. Even after that, it serves to motivate Jaime, to the point that one aunt has to point out to him that Tyrion is much more Tywin-esque than Jaime.
  • It seems to drive Cersei (to a lesser extent) as well, although she flip-flops between wanting to make him proud and wanting to become so much greater than him that he would only be remembered as her father, instead of the other way around.
  • Theon Greyjoy seems to have a case of this towards his father Balon. His feelings toward Ned Stark, the man who raised Theon as his ward since Theon was 10, are even more conflicted, which is unsurprising given Theon's dual role of hostage/ward. At times, Theon finds himself wondering what Ned Stark would say about some particular deed he's done and then becomes angry with himself for caring.
  • In a very twisted sense, Joffrey Baratheon is like this towards Robert Baratheon, irritating his grandfather Tywin Lannister immensely. Tywin had thought Joffrey did not care for Robert and is pissed the little brat shows some pride at being a Baratheon rather than a Lannister. Which is ironic, considering Joffrey is all Lannister because he and his two siblings are actually the children of his mother Cersei Lannister with her twin brother Jaime, not Robert.
  • Jon Snow adores his father Eddard Stark, often reflects on what his father taught him and his siblings, and yearns to make Eddard proud, to the point where he has a few dreams about being accepted as a true Stark and earning rights to Winterfell. He suffers a lot of guilt over that last part though, given his status and love for his siblings. Eddard does love and respect Jon and wanted to assure him so but Joffrey's interference meant he would never get the chance.
  • The Martell children. Doran's apparent ambivalence towards his daughter Arianne is a source of great grief to her, and though it isn't made explicit, her younger brother Quentyn's actions indicate that he too is searching for his father's approval.
  • Lovable Coward Samwell Tarly spends an undue amount of time wondering if any of his actions will earn him some small measure of approval from his father Randyll, who believes A Real Man Is a Killer and is deeply disappointed Sam isn't.
• In the third Spaceforce (2012) book, Damien Howe, grandson of the founder of the Fantasia Corporation, seems to have been seeking his grandfather’s approval in vain all his life (or at least since his mother’s premature death). In the end, it drives him to bring about the destruction of Fantasia.
• There's a bit of an inversion in the Star Wars Legends. After he dies, Anakin Skywalker becomes a Force ghost. He appears briefly to Luke in Return of the Jedi but says nothing; a hundred twenty years later, in Legacy, he speaks to a wangsty descendent, but in the meantime, he's only been written speaking to one person — Leia. He wants to apologize to her, tell her how proud he is of her, and be forgiven. However, she is furious and horrified at the sight of him, doesn't want to know that any part of him survived, still considers Bail to be her real father, and doesn't believe that redemption equaled death at all. Even after he fades out she's angry and deeply disturbed; by the end of the book, she hasn't changed her mind but decides that if he wants to be proud of her, fine.
  • Later in the EU she doesn't quite forgive him, but she does come to terms with who he was; she names her third child "Anakin" (who, for his part, was not too happy for being saddled with such a name, but it sort of helped keep him from the Dark Side).
• Time Scout:
  • Margo wants to be a time scout to rub it in her dying father's face.
  • Skeeter also fits this trope. When he says "My father made me the man I am today." he means it as the absolute truth. He just doesn't know which father. One he hates, the other he loves and fears.
• In the Trickster's Duet, despite knowing her mother loves her, Aly feels that her mother doesn't understand her and underestimates her abilities. In one of her dreams where she can see what her mother is doing, she realizes that Alanna does understand and trust Aly and knows she has the talents to survive.
• In the Vorkosigan Saga, Miles Vorkosigan started out an odd variant of this. It is not so much his father Aral's feelings of contempt or disapproval that he strives against as his feelings of guilt (Aral blames himself for the sequence of events that led to his son's prenatal poisoning and resultant physical disabilities). Miles's grandfather Piotr has enough disapproval for both Aral and Miles to go around. If he didn't Aral and Piotr are such towering giants of Barayaran history Miles nearly kills himself trying to measure up.
• In James Swallow's Warhammer 40,000 Horus Heresy novel The Flight of the Eisenstein, the captain of the Eisenstein comments on how the Astartes strive to be independent of the Emperor as if he were their father — and yet crave his approval.
  • Prior to the storyline Captain Nathaniel Garro had craved validation from Mortarion but finds himself moving away from his primarch's ideals at the time the book starts and Solun Decius is desperate to live up to Garro's expectations despite the cancer from hell (pun intended) infecting his body. By extension this trope probably applies to most of the Deathguard, considering that those who sided with Mortarion are known for worshipping Father Nurgle.
• In Graham McNeill's Warhammer 40,000 Horus Heresy novel Fulgrim, when Horus tells Fulgrim that the Emperor intends to become a god and dispose of them, Fulgrim speaks of how he has longed for his love and respect.
• In Simon Spurrier's Warhammer 40,000 Night Lords novel Lord of the Night, Sahaal remembers how the Night Haunter had been this, and the Emperor had treated him with contempt. Thus justifying, in the Night Haunter's eyes and Sahaal's own, his revolt against the Emperor.
• In John C. Wright's War of the Dreaming: Mists of Everness, there are not one but two examples in the same family. Peter regarding his father's Ancient Tradition; Peter's son Galen regarding his father.
• A couple in Warrior Cats:
  • Breezepelt. The ironic thing is, Crowfeather only had Breezepelt so his Clanmates would accept him.
  • Bluestar, whose father Stormtail was just distant from his kits.
  • Crookedstar. His mother Rainflower doted on him and his brother, but when he broke his jaw as a kit ruining his "handsome" appearance, she became outright abusive, rarely visiting him in the medicine cat's den and refusing to let the other kits visit him to keep his spirits up, renaming him from Stormkit to Crookedkit, making him sleep alone in the nursery, and frequently saying that he would never be as good as his brother. One of his goals in life was to make her proud of him.
  • Tallstar, whose father wants him to be a tunneler like him. When he gets chosen to be a moor-runner, Sandgorse starts ignoring him in his worst moods or trying to get him to be like him in his best moods. So Tallstar wants to be a tunneler like him so that he could be proud of him.
  • Thunder, who grew up without a mother, due to her death. To make things worse, his father Clear Sky was becoming increasingly unhinged and violent and refused to take care of him. When they meet, Thunder is fascinated and wants nothing more than to impress him. However, his father tries to emotionally manipulate Thunder, and... it works for some time, but Thunder eventually realizes what's going on, and they become enemies.
• The Witch of Knightcharm: Imogene Anders, who leads Emily's original team, is this. She's devastated by their team's defeat in the first couple of chapters because her family have been great warriors for Knightcharm for many years and now she's disappointed them.
• The Witchlands:
  • Iseult is always trying to please her mother and the fact that she can't leave her with a bad case of Heroic Self-Deprecation.
  • Vivia often feels like she can't please her father enough, and sometimes, when making a decision, she goes against her better judgement because she thinks he'll approve of the opposite.
• In the Spellslinger Series, Kellen and Shalla both start out desperate for their father's approval. Story events means that Kellen becomes an outlaw in the run who intentionally defies his father's plans, while Shalla stays home and becomes The Dragon, but even after everything Ke'heops puts Kellen through, Kellen realizes he still wants his father's approval and love.
• The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Berko Shemets has a Tlingit mother and Jewish father, and discovers that his father deliberately incited the riot that caused his mother's accidental death. Berko rips off the tallit he's wearing under his clothes and forces it over dad's head. Moments later he tries to shoot himself, so his son rushes him to the hospital despite loudly proclaiming that he doesn't care if his father dies.
  “I never asked you to observe the religion,” the old man says, not looking up. “I don’t think I ever put any kind of—”
  “It has nothing to do with religion,” Berko says. “It has everything to do, God damn it, with fathers.”

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