Sons of Anarchy

The pervading theme and the basis of the original story line revolved around Jax and his father.  Whether it be his struggle to not follow in the same footsteps and have his children suffer the same fate he had, or actually coming to understand why his father did the things he did.  Jax's biggest motivator was his father, hence why he destroyed anything that his kids could cling to in the finale that may allow them to see him as an admirable figure.  He destroyed all pictures and memorabilia, his journals, and ultimately donned his fathers boots as a final nod to ending the cycle.

My point to all of this:  What is the ultimate, as far as human history goes, Father/Son relationship?  Although the series has not been focused on Christianity, I think there have been elements sprinkled in throughout many episodes, certainly this last season and culminating in the final episode.  No Jax was not a Jesus like figure by any stretch of the imagination, but he did have one Jesus like act to end the series:  Sacrificing himself for the good of his children.

Oh and homeless woman who was always around during big moments and deaths in the series. I believe she was an angel of sorts. The bread and wine is an obvious reference to the last supper as well as the final scene where Jax's blood mixes with the bread...(the blood of Christ)

My guess? She is the angel of death. And what is that angel called? That's right, the Reaper...

Drizztbob wrote:

Sacrificing himself for the good of his children.

Yeah, that's a good point. I was focusing on him sacrificing himself to forgive the sins of the club. But sacrificing himself to free his children from the sins of that life is a good thought as well.

The question I have (which created a lot of disagreement between me and my wife) is whether Jax was successful. She argues that while John Teller failed, Jax succeeded in breaking the pattern. I disagree. There are 2 scenes that tell me that Abel is destined to follow in Jax's footsteps, just as Jax followed in John's.

1. Jax telling Nero to have Wendy tell the boys who he was, and that he wasn't a good person and should be despised. I think it would be better if they learned nothing at all about Jax. When Wendy tells them, it's going to create the same kind of questions and the need to search for answers that Jax had in relation to John. So, in essence, I think Jax inadvertently planted the seed for Abel to follow in his footsteps, even though that's what he was trying to prevent.

2. Abel looking at the Sons ring that Gemma gave him. The camera zoomed in on him fidgeting with the ring. I don't think that was for nothing.

As for the homeless woman, my first thought also was the angel of death. I'll have to find the ghost theory I read, which I found very interesting. The angel of death and ghost theories are both plausible, and I'm not sure yet which one I'm going to decide on believing.

EDIT:

I found an interesting response to a short article about the homeless woman. Essentially, it makes a case for the woman being a representation of Jax's destiny. It's long and hard to read without paragraph breaks, but it makes a lot of sense and might be the closest thing I've read to possibly being the true meaning of the character:

Quote :

Let's start with the most basic thing we know about her, which is something we learned late in the series. She takes the form of Emily Putner, the woman who was killed in JT's wreck. So right away we know she's something otherwordly. The next thing we have to ask ourselves is WHY did KS decide to make her take that very specific form? She could have just been a generic Homeless Lady and not tied to JT's death. Some people thought she was a reaper, but she appeared many times not directly correlated to death so that always seemed too simple to me. Because she appears as the woman who died when JT did, it was important to understand why. I'd argue that it had become JT's destiny to save his sons from the violence, but from the moment his father died Jax became destined to be the one to break the cycle of violence in his family. The stain of his father's sins was indelible, JT was gone, and now suddenly that responsibility fell on Jax. The key thing to note about the Homeless Lady is SHE ALWAYS APPEARS WHEN JAX IS TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM SAMCRO, and throughout the series she and Gemma are tangoing for control of Jax's destiny. Because, of course, Gemma "had a plan." The first time we meet her it's Gemma who sees her. At this point Jax has just become a father and has a new perspective on life...he's found his father's manuscripts and is beginning to doubt the club... his first step towards fulfilling his destiny. But that first time we see her Gemma PAYS her money...almost as if she's paying destiny to leave her son alone...and so fate disappears for awhile. We don't see her again until the last episode of the season, when Jack has found out about Donna and is determined to change SAMCRO or leave. The Homeless Lady encourages him, protects him, wraps him in a blanket...and moves him toward his destiny. It seems like at that moment he's unconsciously accepting his eventual destiny, though of course he doesn't yet know it. Season 2 arrives and we see the homeless lady after Gemma has been raped. Jax is almost completely done with SAMCRO at this point, and has resolved to leave Charming. But Gemma sees her in front of the Church and asks if she knows her. The Homeless Lady says everyone knows her. Gemma then follows her into the Church as if to accept The Destiny ahead. But then a few episodes later Gemma sees her at the psychiatrist's office. The silent implication is that if Gemma sees the psychiatrist to heal as Tara suggested, if she walks again past Destiny, she is accepting her son's fate. But, Gemma chooses to turn and run from her...and ends up using that very rape to once again pull Jax back toward her and away from his destiny. We next see her right before Jax decides to let Abel stay in Belfast, to allow his son to be free of the violence...Jax's legacy is almost complete and for the first time his son is within a hair's breath of being free of the violence and again forcing Jax's date with Destiny further down the road, waiting for him. In season 4 Jax has finally made a concrete plan to get his boys out, they are heading to Oregon, his destiny is right there in front of him in the park, picnicking with his family as the homeless lady rummages through garbage...and suddenly Tara is kidnapped and he is sucked back into the vortex of violence and chaos. However the plan for the boys and Tara to go to Oregon is still the ultimate goal, he's still on the right path, until he sees her in the Season 5 finale, moments before Tara is arrested and that opportunity vanishes forever. Another window is slammed shut for Jax. Season 6 is when we finally find out whose form she takes..Emily Putner...and shortly after Destiny's daughter literally shatters Jax's window, his world is shattered and his family collapses around him. His wife has died and his world crumbles. And because it was his mother who killed Tara, and because of the man Jax is, there will be only one way forward for Jax to fulfill his Destiny now. After Tara's murder for the first time we see the Homeless Lady when no one else does. Juice disposes of the murder weapon and briskly walks by her, showing us that after the death of his wife Jax's path is concrete. Juice can't she her because he can't do anything to change the course of Destiny at that point, he is just a blind pawn in a chess game too complex to understand. In season 7 we don't see her again until she's rooting for change in the vending machine at the truck beside Gemma...but there is no more money, no way to pay her off. Jax's fate is set in stone because of his actions and there's only one way he can fill it now. Destiny has brought the woman who tried to fight against her, Gemma, face to face with the man who ends up killing Jax. And the truck driver sees Destiny, as it his own fate to be the one who kills Jax. It is ultimately Gemma asking for a ride that puts that trucker on the road the day Jax dies, but of course it was always meant to be that way. When Jax finally confronts his fate at the end, and speaks to her, it's because for the first time he as realized the sacrifice he must make to fulfill his Destiny. For the first time she sits with bread and wine, symbols of loving blood sacrifice, by her side. It is only when Jax has consciously decided to take control of how his story ends that "it is time;" and he accepts the blanket from her once more, this time knowing full well what accepting his fate means. His own blood, his own sacrifice, to save his sons. Destiny has been fulfilled, and Jax is at peace. -found this from a fan, her name is Alison Theresa and she is absolutely correct.

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/575620/20141211/sons-anarchy-season-7-finale-red-rose.htm#.VItWznuQLbx

Interesting view. Where is Kurt when you need him??

Drizztbob wrote:

Interesting view. Where is Kurt when you need him??

Kurt isn't talking. The only thing he said is that he'd leave it up to fans to form our own opinion.

The more I think about it, I'm really digging the theory that the woman was a representation of Jax's destiny to break the cycle. And Gemma was always thwarting that destiny. When the woman tried giving Jax the blanket the first time, the blanket was a symbol of his destiny, but he chose not to accept it and got sucked back into the cycle of violence. In the finale, she again gave him the blanket and told him "it's time." Time for what? Time to accept his destiny, which he did, symbolized by him accepting the blanket. Originally, there were multiple paths he could choose to fulfill his destiny while still living. But eventually, all paths but one disappeared ... the path that led to him having to kill himself.

I love this theory, but those two scenes I mentioned above still bother me. Even though Jax accepted his destiny, does that mean Abel is now free of the cycle of violence? Or just as Gemma kept thwarting Jax's destiny, did she also interfere with Abel's destiny by giving him that ring?

Well just the fact that Abel was drawing in that book is an homage to Jax writing in his journals. I'm pretty sure that is going to be up for our interpretation, but my guess is with the ring, his attitude already and what he has seen/been through...he has a much bleaker future than just becoming a Son. I mean just think about his name, Abel who was slain by his own brother.