ullanta
Veteran
Here's a different revelation:
How about if all along the assumption (and the "legend" that the children hear about the old painter before meeting him) was that he stopped painting because of the loss of his hand, but that's not the reason? Say the old man stopped painting because of something analogous to the main boy/man's need to support his family?
Suppose, e.g., throughout the story the old man mentions the terrible days when he lost his son, lost his hand, and stopped painting (with subtle implication that the loss of hand was the cause of stopping painting). But it turns out that, say, his wife needed a different and more secure life after whatever accident caused the tragedy, and he gave up the artist's life for her (and for his other children?). From here, it can be left alone, if he's an inspirational figure, to help the main boy realize his decisions were right after all, or made more tragic, perhaps, by something like the dissolution of the old painter's family anyway, due to a personality change/depression resulting from his giving up his artistic aspirations....
Perhaps, indeed, his greatest and most powerful works (painted post-handloss) were related to the death of his son, but that was too much for his wife (or even him) to deal with?
Or even the more banal: He lost his hand, but was still able to paint, and did for a while... but realized that it was a close call, and that any disability (loss of other hand, blindness, etc) could ruin him, so he switched to a career that provided medical and retirement benefits.
How about if all along the assumption (and the "legend" that the children hear about the old painter before meeting him) was that he stopped painting because of the loss of his hand, but that's not the reason? Say the old man stopped painting because of something analogous to the main boy/man's need to support his family?
Suppose, e.g., throughout the story the old man mentions the terrible days when he lost his son, lost his hand, and stopped painting (with subtle implication that the loss of hand was the cause of stopping painting). But it turns out that, say, his wife needed a different and more secure life after whatever accident caused the tragedy, and he gave up the artist's life for her (and for his other children?). From here, it can be left alone, if he's an inspirational figure, to help the main boy realize his decisions were right after all, or made more tragic, perhaps, by something like the dissolution of the old painter's family anyway, due to a personality change/depression resulting from his giving up his artistic aspirations....
Perhaps, indeed, his greatest and most powerful works (painted post-handloss) were related to the death of his son, but that was too much for his wife (or even him) to deal with?
Or even the more banal: He lost his hand, but was still able to paint, and did for a while... but realized that it was a close call, and that any disability (loss of other hand, blindness, etc) could ruin him, so he switched to a career that provided medical and retirement benefits.
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