Sibling Rivalry

954 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Causes of sibling rivalry essay

Sibling Rivalry

Sibling rivalry is one of humanity's oldest problems. One of the first stories in the Bible deals with the rivalry between two brothers, Cain and Abel. The older brother, Cain, was irritated at constantly having to help take care of his younger brother, Abel, and kept asking his parents: "Am I my brother's keeper?" The story of these two brothers has a tragic ending; Cain becomes so angry that he kills Abel. The fact that this is one of the first stories within the Bible shows the great importance given to the problem of sibling rivalry.

By "sibling rivalry" we mean the hostility between brothers and/or sisters, which turns itself into situations ranging from common children's fights to more serious cases such as permanent hatred between adult siblings.

It is not difficult to find the root cause of sibling rivalry. Nature offers us many examples. In nature, the competition is usually for food. For example, as baby sharks develop within the mother shark's womb, the biggest baby shark devours all of his brothers and sisters, ensuring for himself all of the available food resources. In another example, eagles make their nests at great heights, in mountains or trees. The first baby eaglet that is born kills all his sibling eaglets by pushing them out from the nest as they come out of their eggs. That way all the food that the mother eagle brings will be only for him. A similar competition exists between siblings in human families. However...

Show More
Related

  • The Contradiction between Beliefs and Actions in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    2137 Words  | 5 Pages

    The only reason they partake in the feud is because the rest of their family has done so, and that they are expected to. This is similar to the actions of those who attend church every Sunday. By being programmed by their parents or guardian to attend church at such a young age, these children get into a habit of attending a service they do not fully comprehend. And as time passes, this programming is embedded into their minds.

    Read More

  • John Steinbeck's East of Eden - Biblical Symbols and Symbolism

    1254 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the novel East of Eden, Steinbeck uses many biblical references to illustrate clearly the conflict between the opposing forces of good and evil. Much of the plot of East of Eden is centered upon the two sets of brothers representing Cain and Abel.  Both pairs are similar to Cain and Abel in the way they go about winning their fathers’ favors.  All four give gifts to their fathers, and the fathers dismiss the gifts of Charles and Caleb, the Cain representations (Marks, Jay Lester. p.121).  Caleb and Charles Trask are obviously the more malignant brothers.  They are also the more loving towards their father.  Steinbeck’s purpose in this is to illustrate the need of the Cain character in the story.  Abel, Adam and Aron, is the opposite of his brother and naturally good and pure.  The purpose of Adam and Aron in East of Eden is to clarify the belief that purity must know wickedness (Marks, Jay Lester. p.122).  Steinbeck illustrates the need for both good and bad with the actions and beliefs of these supposed “good” characters.  The representations of Abel, Adam and Aron are both described as unloving.  Adam has not treated his children fairly and his treatment is caused by his innate goodness.  Aron grows as an ignorant selfish person because he is naturally good (Fonterose, Joseph.  p. 3382).   Steinbeck uses Cain to illustrate the choice man has.  In the case of Charles, Cain dies an unhappy man who did not live a worthwhile life, Caleb on the other hand, chose to realize his dark past, but chose to continue living his life with hope (Marks, Jay Lester.  p. 122-123).

    Read More

  • The Significance of Sibling Rivalry in Steinbeck's East of Eden

    1394 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sibling rivalry is like a natural occurring hate towards siblings like an inheritance passed from parents to child. The only way to overcome such a desire is to and chooses the good and outweighs the evil parents and child should contain a physical and emotional relationship with each other and view each child as equal. By the idea of timshel, which gives parents and children’s a choice to choose the good and end sibling rivalry.

    Read More

  • The Rich Brother by Tobias Wolff

    873 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tobias Wolff's short story, "The Rich Brother", is a parallel story to the biblical fable of Able and Cain. The biblical story of Able and Cain is that of the first story that puts man against man. Cain and Able are children of Adam and Eve, where Cain is the eldest and Able the younger of the two. In the biblical story Cain and Able end up giving gifts (sacrifices) to appease to their God. This in turn, creates tension between the two because Able's sacrifice of the lamb is much favored by God than is Cain's offering of his crops. Cain becomes outraged because he believes that Able has purposely tried to embarrass him, ultimately, leading Cain to become so enraged that he ends up murdering his only brother in cold blood. Throughout, 'The Rich Brother', Wolff portrays Peter as Cain because he shows a lack of devotion to God, creates a rival ship with his brother, and climatically abandons his only brother Donald.

    Read More

  • Biblical Symbols and Symbolism in John Steinbeck's East of Eden

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Steinbeck includes more of the tale of Genesis: 4 than is actually told in the bible.  The basis of this is a Jewish story involving twin sisters of both Cain and Abel.  The two disputed over Abel’s twin whom Abel was to marry.  Cain murdered Abel and wed the twin sister of his brother (Fonterose, Joseph. p.3380).  The story differs also in that it is Abel who leaves his home instead of Cain.  Abel found his Eden, represented by Salinas Valley, but lost it after fathering a second generation very similar to the first, Caleb representing Cain and Aron representing Abel (Fonterose, Joseph. p.3379).  The story is changed by Steinbeck to illustrate the idea that men naturally have both good and evil tendencies within them, and that this mixture compels men to choose between the two.  The story told is similar to an alternate interpretation of Genesis: 4 called timshel.  This alternate reading introduces the idea that Cain feels evil and kills Abel because of the jealousy he feels towards his brother and God’s love for Abel (Levant, Howard. p.243).

    Read More

  • Angel and The Devil in East of Eden by John Steinbeck

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charles Trask, who holds the destructive behavior of Cain, has an acute fear of rejection, despite it being a constant factor in his life. As a child, the only thing he wanted was love from his father Cyrus, but Cyrus gave all his love to Adam, the Abel to Charles and the brother who “most of the time [Adam] hated [Cyrus]” (64). This rejection creates anger in Charles, directed not at his more deserving father Cyrus, but Adam. Charles needs someone to blame for his hurt feelings, and felt his brother was the best choice. For Cyrus’s birthday Charles “took six bits and [he] bought him a knife made in Germany”, while Adam...

    Read More

  • Parashat Toldot Analysis

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shabbat Shalom. This week’s parasha, parashat Toldot, focuses on sibling rivalry. In the Torah, siblings have always been at odds in one way or another. One of the most drastic examples is Kane and Able, the first siblings in the Torah. Their relationship was torn apart because of a rivalry. The rivalry ended with fratricide when Kane rose up and killed Able.

    Read More

  • Cain and Abel: A Society of Choices

    388 Words  | 1 Pages

    There came a day when Cain and Abel both went to make an offering unto Jehovah; Abel made an offering from his flocks while Cain made an offering from the first fruits of his harvest. Cain’s offering was rejected by Jehovah, Cain became jealous of Abel and his favor with Jehovah. In a jealous rage Cain slew Abel.

    Read More

  • Real Women Have Curves Analysis

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    It seems that every sibling doesn’t always have a great relationship with their older or younger siblings. In the movie “Real Women Have Curves”, we have two sisters, Anna and Estella,who seem not to get along in the beginning because of their differences, but at the end they become the best of friends because they have similar dreams and learn to support each other. The advantage of Anna and Estella’s relationship is that they benefit from each other. The whole story is that you don’t always realize how much you have in common with your siblings until you realize that you have similar dreams and can be there for each other.

    Read More

  • Cinderella : A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts, by Bruno Bettelheim

    1475 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most children experience agony and hope as they face the struggles of sibling rivalry throughout their childhood. This situation has been experienced by children, of whom may or may not have siblings, for hundreds of years. Several stories represent this crisis, including the Biblical story of Abel and Cain which was written over 3000 years ago. Abel of whom was forced to be Cain’s ash-brother. Cain had developed an intense feeling of jealousy of Abel when his offering to the Lord was rejected while Abel’s was accepted. This caused him great agony, but he wasn’t the only one. The fairytale “Cinderella” encompasses the ideas of sibling rivalry as well as the agonies and hopes that correspond with it.

    Read More

  • What Is Crime By Lawrence Friedman Summary

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    My brother and I have always been at each other’s throats all the way back to our forced meeting on the day of his birth. Do not get me wrong I love him and if he needed an organ I would be first in line with the promise to bug him about it until one of our deaths. As siblings we always have something sarcastic to say to each other, when the opportunity arises it never fails. Getting physical and pushing each other around is not a foreign concept to us.I mean if you can not wrestle with a sibling, are you really siblings? Are you really family? For as long as we have been forced to be siblings, physical situations have never gone too far, until 2008. In that year I was the victim of what many people would label criminal behavior.

    Read More

  • Conflict In The Rez Sisters

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    The sister's fights are usually underlined with their desires to make each other into better people. The sisters are connected by their pursuit a better life causing them to push each other towards their goals. When Emily gets herself

    Read More

  • The Rich Brother by Tobias Wolff

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    The short story, "The Rich Brother," by Tobias Wolff represents the same concept that everyday people all over the world encounter. This portrays how having siblings can be an enormous part of a persons life. The rivalry between siblings is often very competitive, but at the same time similar to magnets. When they are not connected it may seem they are independent and whole, but when examined closely it is obvious they are really relying on each other to function properly. Although Pete and Donald's life are separate and completely different, they are in fact very dependent on each other.

    Read More

  • The Differences Of Sibling Rivalry

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sibling Rivalry can be defined as a type of competition or animosity among siblings, whether blood related or not, which is categorized as the common type of aggression amongst siblings in America today. With sibling rivalry or sibling disagreement, it can make a huge difference in the relationship between brothers and sisters and how they treat one another. These differences may include jealousy, competition, and sibling fights. Through differences in gender and age of brothers and sisters, sibling relationships begin to suffer due to built up aggression, tension and sibling rivalry. Generally, sibling rivalry can be quite simple in relationships.

    Read More

More about Sibling Rivalry

Open Document