Lasdun uses the metaphor of the healthy plant to illustrate the concept. “A healthy plant requires the continuous disintegration of organisms present in the surrounding soil in order to thrive” (Lasdun 623) However, the constant control that the father exerts on Roland and his mother prevents their natural maturation towards psychological independence. In other words, through this complicated action of the soul, the father's excessive paternalistic concern for Roland and his sick mother produced opposite effects than originally intended. He had kept both Roland and his ailing mother “slaves to his own failure” (Lasdun 609). Furthermore, the father claims his perfectionist standards. However, practically everything is far from perfect. By imposing perfectionist standards on themselves, Roland and his late mother are doomed to fail. In turn, failure will have significant negative psychological effects on Roland, as it will undermine his self-esteem and sense of self-efficacy. Over time, if this situation does not change, Roland would depend on his father to make decisions for him, which I mention as physical isolation but mental dependence; who cannot trust himself to make his own decisions. However, Roland's father is unaware of this.