In Alden Bell’s The Reapers are the Angels, the family unit persists in the face of a zombie apocalypse. Although not seemingly normal, nor resembling the quintessential nuclear family, the idea of family is very present throughout Temple’s journey. Most families of this post-apocalyptic world operate under a strong sense of denial; a hope that the old world will seep through the seams of the nightmare that sadly is reality. They desperately grasp at traditions of the past with confidence that someday the universe will revert back to its previous state. A blind hope and erroneous optimism guides these groups through the now bleak wasteland; however, hope for a better future is not portrayed as a negative mentality in the novel. Appearing to be useless while remaining amongst their bloodthirsty neighbors, the family endures with confidence. This baseless optimism has pulled the American family through war torn decades and crippling depressions throughout history. Often hope is unjustified and seems unrealistic, but strangely enough, that is why hope exists in the first place. Standing completely frozen in the 19th century, Belle Isle, an estate that shelters the Grierson family in the novel represents a more traditional, yet tremendously odd, depiction of the familial unit. The household holds Grandmother Grierson, brothers Richard and James, and two African-American servants Johns and Maisie. The presence of these two servants clearly differentiates the residence from the modern day, illustrating a more peculiar, backwards way of thinking. The family chooses to shield themselves from the surrounding undead by pleading pure ignorance. Characters such as the Grandmother and Richard reside in fantasies of the old world, while also ... ... middle of paper ... ...hooses to overlook the fact that Abraham tried to rape Temple and simply honor the ties of his family. And although under sinful conditions, these bonds are not corrupt. They are true and powerful. The names Abraham and Moses are blatant allusions to the figures of the Old Testament. In the Bible, these two men plant the seeds of civilization. And in a sense, Moses and Abraham are doing the same. Every family in the novel is. The world did not end. Temple comments on this progress saying, “As long as you’re movin, it don’t matter much where you’re goin or what’s chasin you. That’s why they call it progress. It keeps goin of its own accord” (85). The fate of the world is in the hands of the people who remain. Strengthened by the resilient bonds between who is left, the American family becomes the singular hope for progress to continue amongst the surrounding chaos.
By Micheal Patrick MacDonald. (Ballentine Books under The Random House Publishing Corporation, 1999, 266pp. $14.00)
The story “Adam Robinson Acquires Grandparents and a Little Sister” by Edward P. Jones, published in his collection of short stories All Aunt Hagar’s Children, tells the story of Noah and Maggie Robinson as they take their grandson out of foster care. The story could be said to primarily be about the importance of family bonds, and about establishing and reestablishing them, but it also is very strongly focused on the difficulty in handling and rebuilding a family for grandparents who must take responsibility for their grown children’s children. This very severely stresses Noah and Maggie in ways that impact their expectations about how they would be leading their lives at this phase of their marriage, after having completed their own child rearing and finally reaching a stage where they could focus on their own plans. They now see themselves having to deal with often difficult issues that they had not previously faced while raising their own children. In general, though it seems that grandparents raising their grandchildren in place of the parents is just an un-dramatic variant of the basic function of a family where those parents may sometimes not be available, it can be very stressful on the grandparents, negatively affecting their everyday lives and their enjoyment (Mills, Gomez-Smith and De Leon 194) and upturning life plans (Fitzgerald pp). This is true in spite of the fact that this may ultimately be the far better alternative in this situation (Koh, Rolock and Cross). While having the grandparents raise the children is the better alternative to neglect, abuse or an unstable situation, it is potentially complicated, however, by the behavioral and emotional problems that can often affect children who have been through the ...
Familial Love is natural or instinctual love. Familial Love can also be referred to as the love between a parent and a child. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the character of Holden Caulfield does not convincingly embody a compassionate and caring character. Holden, after having a difficult year at school, finds comfort in his memories of his brother Allie. Another instance of Holden finding comfort, is when he spends time with Phoebe. In the same way, Phoebe is supportive when spending time with Holden. However, this takes a turn for the worse, as Holden reveals to Phoebe that he is leaving. Holden finds comfort and love through his memories of Allie, his experiences with Phoebe and the support from he receives from her.
In the onset of the play, Kushner establishes the theme of progress as a central component of his story by having Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz, while conducting a funeral service, relate the tale of Sarah Ironson’s journey across the Atlantic Ocean. After discussing her struggle “for [her] family, for the Jewish home”(16), the proctor continues by expressing his belief that “such Great Voyages in this world do not any more exist”(16). Though, in our initial experience with this theme, Rabbi Chemelwitz argues that people can no longer make “voyages”, meaning progress, the actions and thoughts purported throughout the extent of the play by multiple characters counteract this belief and demonstrate what it means to make progress in a modern context. Prior, the prophet, when he addresses a committee of angels in his visit to Heaven, vocalizes his impression of what the human experience is: “We’re not rocks—progress, migration, motion is…modernity. It’s a...
As he slouches in bed, a description of the bare trees and an old woman gathering coal are given to convey to the reader an idea of the times and the author's situation. "All groves are bare," and "unmarried women (are) sorting slate from arthracite." This image operates to tell the reader that it is a time of poverty, or a "yellow-bearded winter of depression." No one in the town has much to live for during this time. "Cold trees" along with deadness, through the image of "graves," help illustrate the author's impression of winter. Wright seems to be hibernating from this hard time of winter, "dreaming of green butterflies searching for diamonds in coal seams." This conveys a more colorful and happy image showing what he wishes was happening; however he knows that diamonds are not in coal seams and is brought back to the reality of winter. He talks of "hills of fresh graves" while dreaming, relating back to the reality of what is "beyond the streaked trees of (his) window," a dreary, povern-strucken, and cold winter.
In the history of the United States, there have been many wars like Civil War. Civil War is a war in the United States between the North and the South. In “The Killer Angels” by Michael Shaara is explained of the fogginess that often accompanies warfare. This novel talks about the period of June 30th, 1863 through July 3rd, 1863 when civil war was happening. It is a story of the Battle of Gettysburg, three years into the Civil War. The Killer Angels is also a story that at times questions what the Civil War was about. The Civil War was a war fought over slavery and the North made their own way to South by imposing the South. Slavery was the main reason what got the Civil War started in the South and separation between South and North was stronger.
“Stitches” by David Small is a graphic novel where he visually describes his childhood. Small shows how he perceived his family relationships as a child and his own perspective of the world at the time. He clearly depicts his family’s dysfunctionality that prevented him the ability to display his self expression. Small encountered various events throughout his novel that added a different element to his understanding of relationships, specifically with his parents. As Small matured, these events played a critical role on his ultimate understanding of their complicated relationship.
Valerie Martin’s Novel Property is an engrossing story of the wife of a slave owner and a slave, whom a mistress of the slave owner, during the late 18th century in New Orleans. Martin guides you through both, Manon Guadet and her servant Sarah’s lives, as Ms. Gaudet unhappily lives married on a plantation and Sarah unhappily lives on the plantation. Ms. Gaudet’s misserableness is derived from the misfortune of being married to a man that she despises and does not love. Sarah, the slave, is solely unhappy due to the fact that she is a slave, and has unwillingly conceived to children by Ms. Gaudiest husband, which rightfully makes Sarah a mistress. Throughout the book, Martin captivates the reader and enables you to place yourself in the characters shoes and it is almost as you can relate to how the characters are feeling.
In James Patterson’s thriller novel, I, Alex Cross, Alex Cross and his family living in the nation’s capital must solve a beloved niece’s murder, and uncover the truth about the power players of the country -- all while nurturing the growing wound of the loss of a family member. The idea and importance of the connection between loss and familial support and love runs through the entire story, and one key lesson suggests that no matter how the loss of a family member affects the family, the results will often be similar, if not the same: the remaining members strive to support one another and often work together to find the true reason for the loss, always leading to a better and brighter future for everyone.
While everyone has a family, it's a broad word that every person has their own definition, image and is different to others. In The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, Taylor Greer moves out of Kentucky to have a new start. After she ends up with a toddler named Turtle, she decides to stay in Arizona, Taylor starts to create her own version of a family. Kingsolver shows that family can come from different backgrounds, groups, races and does not have to be related to you proving that family is different for everyone.
A misconception that we often have about family is that every member is treated equally. This fallacy is substantially portrayed in Alistair Macleod’s short story, “In The Fall”. Typically speaking, in a family, the Mother is the backbone for kindness and provides love and support with no unfair judgements. However, when we relate to the portrait of the Mother in Macleod’s short story, we perceive the portrait as a self-centered woman whose affection is only shown upon what interests her. The Mother’s unsympathetic persona is apparent throughout the story as she criticizes all that holds sentimental value to her husband and children.
Having a harmonious family is a part of the American Dream. In The American Dream, written by Jim Cullen, a soldier wrote to the newspaper that he would “relate to” their “wives and children, parents and friends, what” they “have witnessed…” (Cullen, 114). Willa Cather introduces Rosicky’s family, which emphasizes on close relationships and positive community impacts in “Neighbor Rosicky”, and F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that Charlie wants his role as a father back in “Babylon Revisited”. Even though both Cather and Fitzgerald value intimate families in integrity, they have different attitudes toward life.
Families experience many shifts in their lives. Some shifts are positive, but others are negative. When the shifts are negative many families cannot find a clear solution for their problems and they seek someone to blame. We will discuss the Olson’s family situation from the Family Systems Theory point of view.
Literary elements are demonstrated throughout the story and further improve our understanding of the central idea. The setting is important to the central idea because it shows the reader the type of society being described in the story. The language is also important to the central idea because it contains metaphors which further prove that the people are afraid of going against tradition because they are scared of being the target of violence. The conflict contributes to the central idea as well, because there are many examples of the society going against character, Mrs. Hutchinson, for not respecting the traditions put in place. The central idea is important to our understanding of the story because it sums up the main objective and furthers our
One cannot escape change it’s inevitable. Change happens all the time; it is a part life. Yet, even though we adjust all the time, we never realized how much our own family modified us. They alter us more than we do ourselves. They change everything in their path; even how we assess the society that surrounds us. Take Anne Frank’s family, Otto, Edith, and Margo Frank, for instance. They were of the Jewish religion, and When Adolf Hitler came into power they were treated harshly, and were abrasively discriminated along with other Jews and undesirables. Although all of the things that were happening around them the Frank family didn’t loath their society, actually all they felt was dismay because they sensed that all this was...