Family Relationships In The Family In Stitches By David Small

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“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. From the beginning of the novel, Small presents various characteristics of his household structure that promoted dysfunctional relationships when he was a child. “From the book’s very first pages, he presents their home filled with a nervous potential violence.” (Pedler) Small begins the novel, being the age of six, by describing each family member’s non verbal vocabularies. He begins with his mother’s language which was slamming cupboard doors, than his father’s, punching a punching bag, next his brother’s, beating on a drum, and lastly himself, getting sick. The lack of verbal communication in the household can create tension within the family because there is no exchange of feelings or concerns. If someone is going through mental or physical pain, others in the family wouldn’t know about it because there is no communication of that sort within the household. Another household characteristic that prompted dysfunctional relationships was the amount and way the mother had input. For example, there is a …show more content…

In the same interview mentioned earlier Small states how, “In public interviews my editor has advised me, regarding my parents, to use the phrase, “They did the best they knew how.” I concur. They really did do the best they knew how.”

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