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The Proposal · 2009 — Chapter 7 of 14 · 1'49" · B2

Andrew Turns Down the Family Business, Explained: from the ground up

An apology turns into a recruitment pitch: the father wants his son to quit New York and take over the family business. Underneath is an older fight over whether the son's life is a career or just goofing off. "When are you going to start taking what I do seriously?" he fires back.

What happens

At the family home in Sitka, Alaska, the father opens with an apology for his behavior the night before, then pivots: he has been thinking about retirement, and the empire he built with his wife needs an heir. He tells his son to stop goofing off in New York and come home.

Parents & kidsArgumentsApologizingConfrontingParent & childB2fastamericanClean
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Listen for

goofing offfrom the ground upcome up withHere we go again

00:00 / 01:49
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  14. ❝ MonologueJoe's succession pitch6 linesPractice page ↗
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Phrase of the scene

from the ground up

from the very beginning, building everything from scratch

父亲想劝安德鲁回家接班，先强调自己和妻子当年白手起家，一点点建起整个家业，好让这份事业听上去非他继承不可。

She built the bakery from the ground up with almost no capital.

Also in this scene

  • goofing off

    wasting time instead of working seriously

  • come up with

    to think of an idea, plan, or solution

  • Here we go again

    an exclamation that a familiar, unwanted situation is repeating

Everything marked in this scene

19 notes across 32 lines

Phrase · B2be a little peevedAnyway, she, uh, is a little peeved.
Phrase · C1the most gracious of hostsApparently I wasn't the most gracious of hosts last night.
Phrase · B2a little bit of a shockIt was a little bit of a shock to find out that you're getting married.
Phrase · B2owe someone an apologyThe point is, I owe you an apology.
Phrase · B2from the ground up

from the very beginning, building everything from scratch

I've done a lot of things in my life. Practically built an empire with your mother from the ground up.
Phrase · B2build an empireI've done a lot of things in my life. Practically built an empire with your mother from the ground up.
Soundground up

liaison

I've done a lot of things in my life. Practically built an empire with your mother from the ground up.
Phrase · B2not mean anything unless ...It doesn't mean anything unless... Unless you have someone to leave it to.
Phrase · B2goof off

wasting time instead of working seriously

I think I've been more than understanding about your goofing off in New York.
Soundgoofing off

liaison

I think I've been more than understanding about your goofing off in New York.
Phrase · B2play aroundI need you to quit playing around.
Phrase · B2take something seriouslyWhen are you going to start taking what I do seriously?
Phrase · B1act seriouslyWhen you start acting seriously.
Grammar · B1When you start acting seriously

time clause

When you start acting seriously.
Grammar · B2I wish you had another son

wish-clause

I wish you had another son. I really do.
Phrase · B2take over somethingOne who wanted to stay here. One who wanted to take over the family business.
Soundtake over

liaison

One who wanted to stay here. One who wanted to take over the family business.
Grammar · B1If that's what makes you happy

if clause

If that's what makes you happy, son, I got nothing to say.
Phrase · C1apology not acceptedYou know what? Apology not accepted. Have fun out here.

Andrew Turns Down the Family Business, explained

What's really going on

The apology is a formality the father needs to get to his real agenda: guilt and duty. He built everything "from the ground up," and to him an inheritance without a willing heir is meaningless — "It doesn't mean anything unless you have someone to leave it to." The son answers the accusation buried in the pitch, that his years in New York are just goofing off, with a question: "When are you going to start taking what I do seriously?" Each has a script for the other. The father hears a grown man chasing a hobby; the son hears the same lecture he has heard his whole life, which is why "Here we go again" lands as a sigh, not a joke. When the father finally says he has "nothing to say" if this is what makes his son happy, it isn't acceptance so much as surrender — and the son, still stung, refuses the earlier apology outright.

Theme

GenerationsA father who built an empire expects his heir to carry it; the son wants a different life, and neither can hear the other.
Family conflictThe apology collapses into the same old fight: duty versus a life the son chose, ending with "Apology not accepted."

What you'll learn

  • Use “from the ground up” for building from nothing.
  • Recognize “goof off” as an informal criticism.
  • Use “I wish you had...” to express regret.
  • Use “take over something” for assuming control.

Listen for

  • ground up — liaison
  • goofing off — liaison
  • take over — liaison
When are you going to start taking what I do seriously?

The son's real grievance — not the business, but that his father treats his career and his whole life as a hobby he will grow out of.

I wish you had another son. I really do.

A bitter admission: he believes he has never been the child his father wanted, and says it to wound back after being called a slacker.

If that's what makes you happy, son, I got nothing to say.

The father concedes, but without warmth — he stops arguing because he has given up on changing his son, not because he approves.

You know what? Apology not accepted. Have fun out here.

The son throws the father's earlier apology back at him, rejecting the truce on his way out: the apology came with strings, so he won't take it.

Questions about this scene

Why does Andrew turn down the family business?

He says his life in New York — an office, books — is what actually makes him happy. The business isn't a bad life; it's just his father's expectation, and he won't pretend it's his own.

Is Andrew being unfair to his father?

It cuts both ways. The father dismisses years of his son's work as goofing off and attaches an agenda to his apology, so the anger has grounds — but "I wish you had another son" is built to wound, and it lands.

What does the line "I wish you had another son" really mean?

Not a literal wish. He is saying he has never been the son his father wanted — one who stays, runs the business, and marries someone approved of — and he is through pretending otherwise.

Why does Andrew take back the apology he first accepted?

He accepts it before he learns the reason for the visit. Once the talk becomes a push to quit his life and come home, the apology looks like a setup, so he retracts it on the way out.

The Proposal · 14 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 8called it offMargaret Meets Andrew's Ex
Chapter 1let someone goMargaret Fires BobChapter 2turn operations over toMargaret Announces a Fake EngagementChapter 3out of your hairMargaret Fakes a Marriage InterviewChapter 4with cherries on topAndrew Makes Margaret ProposeChapter 5a meal ticketMargaret Meets the Paxton FamilyChapter 6pulling your legAndrew Brings Margaret Home to SitkaWatching · Chapter 7from the ground upAndrew Turns Down the Family BusinessChapter 8called it offMargaret Meets Andrew's ExChapter 9take this the wrong wayMargaret and Andrew Trade SecretsChapter 10a shamThe Paxtons Plan a Barn WeddingChapter 11burst into tearsAnnie Gives Margaret the Heirloom DressChapter 12off the hookThe Sham Marriage ExposedChapter 13get my head on straightMargaret Confesses at the WeddingChapter 14dawned on meAndrew Proposes to Margaret
Chapter 7 of 14 · about 36 min to go