The idea of the family has gone through dynamic changes throughout time. Fortunately, literary works have been the constant reporter on this capricious idea. When hearing family, the majority of the populace might say it is defined as the typical, “mom, dad, brother, sister” default setup, however, this “accepted” precedent has been, respectfully, impugned. The reality is that it might not matter who makes up the family. How the “family” functions is what supersedes in importance. In some cases, friends can be more of a family than an actual family. Sometimes people wish they had a different family altogether. These people want to gravitate toward their perfect, "emotionally-formed family", which has most likely been engendered …show more content…
It be demonstrated through putting others and their needs before yourself and your needs. It can be “letting things go” for the sake of maintaining the well-being of the family with the slight risk of personal discomfort. One example of sacrifice in literature stems from a previously discussed story, “The Storm”. The part that involves sacrifice involves Alcee and the influence the “emotional family” he has created with Calixta has on his own marriage. Alcee and his wife haven’t been together for a while as they needed a “break” for a modicum of time. His relationship with Calixta inspired him to write to his wife that same night. Alcee explained how it was alright if they stay a month longer because he realized that “their health and pleasure were the first things to be considered”(Chopin 398). Even though Alcee wanted to be with his wife and child, he made the sacrifice of giving them some extra time even though he was ready to have them back. He put their needs before his own-he sacrificed. To be willing to be apart from loved ones even though things are happy and copacetic is true devotion and attests to a person’s ability to
The idea of “family” is almost entirely socially constructed. From grandparents, to friends, to wives and fiancés, the means by which we decide who is related to us and who is not is decided by the person and their milieu. In Mignon R. Moore’s “Independent Women: Equality in African-American Lesbian Relationships”, Eviatar Zerubavel’s Ancestors and Relatives: Genealogy, Identity and Community, and Franz Kafka’s The Judgement, this idea is tested. Who do we consider close enough to us to share our most intimate details and how do we choose them? Each piece offers a different view, which is the “right” way for each of the people described, whether broad (as in Zerbavel’s reading) or specific (as in Moore’s reading), but there are also many similarities in the ways family is defined and actualized.
Family was a place of gathering where people met to eat, drink and socialize. The people in the story were also religious as shown by Mrs. Knox as she prayed for her family. The narrator described th...
The word family evokes an image of trust and a bond of loyalty. In William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” and James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”, the main characters in both these stories demonstrate the idea of family loyalty in several ways. While they continue to express the values of family loyalty, the main characters have to overcome several obstacles. Searching for ways to communicate effectively with their families and maintaining their changing identities trap the characters. In “Barn Burning”, Sarty is conflicted with being loyal to his family and being loyal to himself and in “Sonny’s Blues”, the brother has to deal with being loyal to Sonny’s values. During this process, it changes their character and forces them to change and learn about themselves.
A family can be classified as one of many things. It can be a group of people living under one roof; a group of people of common ancestry; or even a unit of a crime syndicate like the Mafia (Merriam Webster). But to Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher In The Rye, his family was what we as a society normally think of when that word is spoken. There are always variations on a theme, but a typical family consists of two parents and at least one child. During the 1950’s when the novel is set, adoption was virtually unheard of and divorce could be considered a sin where as today these are common practices. But one thing about family that has prevailed through the decades is the family’s affect on a person’s existence. The way a person interacts with their family can affect them for the rest of their lives. And the way a family interacts with a specific person can affect that person for the rest of their life. It is a two way relationship which is often complicated and confusing, especially to Holden.
Sacrificing is the act of giving up, destroying, permitting injury to, or forgoing something valued for the sake of something having a more pressing claim. In Liberty and Exile by Julia Alvarez a lot of people have to take certain responsibilities which can involve sacrificing.
And choose wrong?” (P.98). From reading this, I feel that the community was able to control problems such as divorce, rape, teen pregnancy, and AIDS. They all are given a life that is predictable, orderly and painless. Mostly, they have no memory or experience. In reality, we learn from our mistakes to be better each day. Experience is the best teacher in the world; unless one goes through sorrow, he or she will never know how it feels. “Warmth, Jonas replied and happiness. And let me think. Family, that it was a celebration of some sort, a holiday. And something else I can’t get the word for it. Jonas hesitated; I certainly liked the memory, though. I couldn’t quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, The Giver told him the feeling that was so strong in the room is love” (P.125). Family in the novel is described as a group of people that have a unit or bond that they share each day together.
What's important to note is that family, or even the concept of family itself, doesn't appear in any of those ideals. Holmes and Holmes (2002) observed that “The family reunions of yesterday are now rare, and when they occur they are often a source of stress.” (p. 19) That quote solidifies one reason why family interaction today is: “It’s just too stressful, so we avoid it. Where does marriage fit into our culture of individuals?
Taylor and Lou Ann demonstrate a symbiotic relationship between the roles and characteristics in a family. Edna Poppy and Virgie Mae replaces the missing physical and emotional traits in a stable household. The examples tie into the fact that not all families in this book match “the norms” and expectations, but are equally valued, blood or
Families are more than just a place for biologically related people to gather and relate, but are places that symbolize all the things that they stand for – such as love, hope, unity, and much more. In some families however, they are defined by the lack of these characteristics and the prevalence of other, less welcoming characteristics – such as conflict, resentment, and anger. While these other, less welcoming characteristics have the ability to damage and destroy relationships, they also have the ability to assist others in identifying areas in which the relationships are both strong and weak. The lack of family-like characteristics is prevalent in two classic American plays, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Death of a Salesman, where they play a critical role in advancing the plot and defining the character’s relationships.
English author Simon Sinek penned, “There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice”. Harmony is an admirable goal, but sacrifice is necessary to achieve it. According to Merriam-Webster, sacrifice is an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy. Sacrifice has the power to create harmony, but if taken to extremes can also destroy humanity. When does the cost become too high? As humans our most valuable possession is our humanity and no price is worth enough to sacrifice it. Therefore, the perfect relationship between sacrifice and harmony exists when humanity is not lost and balance is gained.
Indeed, the pioneer aviator and author Anne Morrow Lindbergh puts it best when she says, “to give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own” In Charles Dickens’s A Tale of two Cities, Dickens shows the inherent goodness of his characters. By exemplifying various acts of sacrifice, he demonstrates that the character’s gifts ultimately bring about great change, often changes that facilitate the revival of their loved ones. The very first signs of sacrifice are noted in the opening scenes of the book. Dickens writes of a “fated revolution” by metaphorically comparing the woodsman and the forester to the creation of the guillotine.
Family is an integral part of human life, a part of each of our lives, a part of each life in the past and future. To some, family is simply one’s parents and one’s siblings. To more, family includes extended relatives. To others, family extends to close friends, tied by everything but blood. Throughout history, writers have analyzed the questions of what it really means to be a part of a family. Does it require unrelenting devotion? Can family pressure one to act in a certain way? Can the duty to family be a source of personal torture? What lies in the domain of the definition of family? Familial duty is defined as a moral obligation to one’s family.
Your family is a portal to the world. They can help you meet others and interact with people. However, it may not always turn out this way. An example of this is how Mildred wanted another wall and told Montag “It’s only two thousand dollars. And I should think you’d consider me sometimes”(18). This shows how Mildred doesn’t care about the cost or the damage it can do to Montag and their home, she just wants what she wants. Another example of this is when Montag’s family has “An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports…”(27) instead of interacting as a family much like Clarisse and her family. In addition, our society does the same actions where instead of making conversation and being productive we will text each other from opposite sides of the room and make little eye contact. We are often disconnected from one another.
Out of the numerous commodities and resources that are scarce on the planet in which we inhabit a family, or even a family system, can never be parallel to even an iota of them. This is due to the fact that everyone, no matter what age at what time period of their life, has a family. That family may not be the cookie cutter family that society imposes on the media world. People develop without knowing their family, people create new families of their own, or they can even find something or someone to call family because of this family will never be scarce. Family is an objective concept to every single person and the definition varies significantly from being as simple as the smallest of toys to as complex as a group of people interconnected
To thoroughly elaborate on the institution of family we most look at the family as it was before and how much it has changed over time. Throughout the years we are recognizing that the family is slowly being replaced by other agents of socialization. Families in the past consisted of a mother and a father and most times children. We are, as many societies a patriarchal society; men are usually the head of the households. This has always been considered the norm.