Lasdun uses the metaphor of the healthy plant to illustrate the notion. “A healthy plant requires the constant disintegration of organisms in the soil around it to thrive” (Lasdun 623). However, the father's constant control over Roland and his mother prevents their natural maturation toward psychological independence. In other words, through this complicated action of the soul, the father's excessive paternalistic attention to Roland and his sick mother resulted in effects opposite to those originally intended. This had kept Roland and his sick mother “in the grip of his own failure” (Lasdun 609). Additionally, the father asserts his perfectionist standards. But almost everything is far from perfect. By imposing perfectionist standards on them, Roland and his deceased mother are doomed to fail. In turn, failure will have significant negative psychological effects on Roland, as it will damage his self-esteem and sense of self-efficacy. Over time, if this situation does not change, Roland will depend on his father to make decisions for him which I describe as physical isolation but mental dependence; that he cannot trust himself to make his own decisions. However, Roland's father is unaware of this..