The show Shameless is about Frank Gallagher, who is a single father with six children. His wife Monica suffers from mental illness and drug addiction left Frank and the family to fend for themselves. Fiona (23) is the oldest followed by Philip “Lip” (20), Ian (18), Debbie (15), Carl (14) and Liam (4). The Gallagher’s are a very close knit family. The family resides in one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. They struggle to make ends meet. The house that they live in is very small and barely accommodates the family. There is little to no privacy for the family members. Food is always scarce and unhealthy consisting mostly of carbs and fats. The house is powered by electricity that is stolen from the neighbors. The family is deeply affected by poverty, abuse, mental illness and other dysfunctional …show more content…
She works very hard to create a “normal” environment for the family. Frank and Monica neglected to model proper parenting skills, therefore, Fiona’s parenting skills are very limited. The boundaries within the family system are so loose that they are almost nonexistent. There are times when Fiona shares alcoholic beverages with her underaged siblings. The children are frequently exposed to illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia. There is no structure for Liam, he is often up late at night with the older family members. Liam is often left on the couch in front of the television. He is normally watching something violent or adult. There are no age-appropriate activities for him. Debbie and Carl come and go as they please. They do not have a curfew and no one questions their whereabouts. At this stage in their development, Debbie and Carl need structure and rules. They should have limited autonomy and some set boundaries. The lack of boundaries leaves the teens vulnerable to unhealthy situations. This may have lead to Debbie’s unplanned pregnancy and Carl’s
Donna has quit working as a prostitute and is currently on the road to recovery from years of addiction and abuse. As a child she suffered from years of neglect and sexual abuse from her immediate family members. Donna admits to using drugs when pregnant with her youngest child and suspects that he may have fetal alcohol syndrome as he is unable to control his emotions and has a difficult time in forming social bonds.
The new phases of life and social context is predicated through the sum of feats and experiences as crises and adversity are usually the greatest motivator which propel individuals to become better than they were before. J.C. Burke’s ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ (TSTB) is an example of the transitional process through entering a new, unknown area which acts as a catalyst for beneficial change. Obstructed by turmoil both mentally and physically, the protagonist Tom Brennan relieves his severe life in the town of Coghill achieving new standards in conjunction to Lisa Forrest’s article ‘Testing new waters after leaving the swimming pool’ (TNWALTS) is another type towards transitional change that explores the personal crisis and career changes over
One of the main characters in the short story “The Things They Carried”, written by Tim O’Brien, is a twenty-four year old Lieutenant named Jimmy Cross. Jimmy is the assigned leader of his infantry unit in the Vietnam War, but does not assume his role accordingly. Instead, he’s constantly daydreaming, along with obsessing, over his letters and gifts from Martha. Martha is a student at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey, Jimmy’s home state. He believes that he is in love with Martha, although she shows no signs of loving him. This obsession is a fantasy that he uses to escape from reality, as well as, take his mind off of the war that surrounds him, in Vietnam. The rest of the men in his squad have items that they carry too, as a way of connecting to their homes. The story depicts the soldiers by the baggage that they carry, both mentally and physically. After the death of one of his troops, Ted Lavender, Jimmy finally realizes that his actions have been detrimental to the squad as a whole. He believes that if he would have been a better leader, that Ted Lavender would have never been shot and killed. The physical and emotional baggage that Jimmy totes around with him, in Vietnam, is holding him back from fulfilling his responsibilities as the First Lieutenant of his platoon. Jimmy has apparent character traits that hold him back from being the leader that he needs to be, such as inexperience and his lack of focus; but develops the most important character trait in the end, responsibility.
The relationship between Brenda and alcohol is quickly grasped, as she is experiencing a hangover at the beginning of the story. When Brenda tells her mother, “I have a headache and I think I’m getting car sick,” she tries to blame the car ride for her nausea, even though she knows the truth behind her physical condition (Vande Velde 5). Because even though Brenda shares her alcoholic tendencies as the narrator, she hides them from those within her family. Brenda’s affiliation with alcohol is further unraveled as she reveals, “sometimes my parents let me have half a glass of wine with dinner” (Vande Velde 31). This type of behavior from her parents helps Brenda to condone and minimize the problem of her underage drinking. This is irresponsible of Brenda’s parents and affects her outlook on the seriousness of alcohol use. Once home alone Brenda takes a bath with her “wine on the edge of the tub” and states that she feels, “savvy and downright sophisticated” (Vande Velde 32). This feeling of sophistication that Brenda derives from the wine only stimulates her urge to drink even more. The full extent of Brenda’s problem is clearly perceived when her mother discovers her fake ID. Disappointed in her daughter, Brenda’s mom starts, “crying, soundlessly, tears pouring down her cheeks” (Vande Velde 58). This discovery of her fake ID is another obstacle propelling Brenda and her mother apart as Brenda dissatisfies her parents yet
Maddie Brown of Sister Wives is already engaged, but this hasn't all aired on the show yet. Us Magazine shared a preview of the upcoming season of Sister Wives where Maddie Brown will tell the family all about her big engagement. In this preview, the family is all at Janelle's house so they can hear this great news from Maddie. Kody explains that Madison has been visiting Caleb and just got back.
“Stef Foster and Lena Adams, a lesbian couple, have a family of adopted, biological, and foster children. Mariana and Jesus are adopted 15 year old twins and Brandon is Stef's 16 year old biological son from a previous marriage. Everything is going normal in the house. Until Callie and Jude arrive. 16 year old Callie Jacob and her 12 year old brother, Jude, have been to many different foster homes. But when they get placed with the Fosters, things begin to happen. In this series, the Fosters will deal with many different issues including, hook ups, break ups, romances, and important life lessons.” - Imob
Emma: *Tears ran down her face* You mean Graces mom left her because she wanted to? How could a mother ever do that to their child
Alcoholism is a debilitating disease that affects an entire family. Alcoholism can cause physical and chemical changes in the diseased person, which in turn can lead to poor life choices. Jeannette's father was an alcoholic. While growing up in poverty, Jeannette's father made decisions that caused the family to suffer greatly. When Jeannette was a young child, Rex's alcoholism was better controlled. Jeannette's father could hold a job for months at a time and provide for his family the basic needs, such as food, required to survive. At one point it their lives, all the kids “lived the high life” when Rex brought home new bicycles for them. However, as Jeannette grew older, her father's disease took control of his life. Soon Jeannette's father began to lose his jobs more often, until he finally refused to maintain a job in any sense. Due to the lack of income, the family suffered greatly financially and emotionally. Jeannette and Brian were forced to eat out of garbage cans at school to combat their...
“Everybody Loves Raymond” is a television show that only few people today can actually say they had not seen this sitcom. It was one of the highest rated show during it run on CBS television network but has anyone ever noticed how much of a gender stereotype bonanza this show was? Most sitcoms follow the same pattern with the primary goal to make us laugh that, we tend to ignore the obvious and just assume this was the expected behavior for men, women even children in our society. I watched the first two episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, the show was about a stay at home mother Debra and her husband Raymond who goes to work, while her in-laws who lives across the street are always barging in to her home without a thought about what
The Fosters makes me feel as though I am a part of the family every episode. Personally I do not consider having two moms is normal, but I can relate to some of the situations the characters go through because my family is not perfect. The Foster's deal with many different issues: break ups, hook-ups, romances, and important life lessons.
Shameless is a U.S TV show that has quickly gathered a cult-like following. The show focuses on a family, the Gallagher’s, and their fight to survive in the Southside of Chicago. The father is an alcoholic and relies on schemes to make money, forcing the children to learn to fend for themselves and rely on their friends in the neighborhood. One of these friends is a middle aged woman named Sheila Jackson, and it is very clear from the first time her character is introduced that she is definitely abnormal and has trouble functioning. Sheila suffers from Agoraphobia, fear and avoidance of situations which causes a person to feel unsafe. (Durand & Barlow, 2016) In Sheila’s case, her agoraphobia causes her to be unable to leave her home. This causes
Shameless is an American TV series based on the self-destructive and dysfunctional family of Frank Gallagher, a single father of six children. The program is set in Chicago and illustrates a story of an alcoholic father who spends his day getting drunk, while his kids learn to take care of themselves. Fiona, the eldest daughter, takes responsibility upon herself at the age of 15 to become the caretaker of the family both physically and financially. Although the Gallagher’s do not have the structure of a nuclear family, they still hold the functionalist perspective of having a matriarchal family system, with the sister leading the family. They fit with the functionalist theory, however not in the generic stance of having a mother and a father
Children living in this type of environment may feel anger, shame, and sadness. They are forced to take on adult roles much earlier because their parents are irresponsible. For instance it shows this in The Glass Castle because the children are forced to make their own meals and fend for themselves because Rex is too busy drinking and Rose Mary is careless (Walls). Alcoholism takes away children’s childhood by forcing them to take on adult roles. Another example of this is when Billy Deel is forced to take care of himself while his father is passed out and constantly drinking, “Billy had a lot of unsupervised time on his hands” (Walls 82). Billy was greatly affected by his father’s alcohol abuse his personality didn’t maturely develop like other children. This is shown when he sexually assaults Jeanette and doesn’t see anything wrong with it, he yells on page 87 “Guess what? I raped you!” (Walls). This statement proves that parents make a huge impact on children, and when children don’t have that, they suffer. Alcohol abuse is not an individual problem, it affects everyone surrounding that person. It isn’t fair for children to be raised in that environment and government should take greater action to protect the children’s safety by removing them from homes like
Every person goes through phases that change their personality. James McBride has gone through many transformations throughout his life. The people in his life and the environment he lived in had a lot to do with his transformation of a person. He started off a curious, worried, confused child to a rebellious, high school drop-out, bum teenager. Luckily he got control of his life again and became a successful, accepting, proud adult.
Morrie Schwartz knew he only had a few months to live after getting diagnosed with ALS. But instead of mourning and drowning in his own self pity, he decided to share his knowledge and experiences that he’s gained throughout his life, and inspire others. The novel Tuesdays with Morrie shows that Morrie Schwartz rejects some of the socially acceptable practices of popular culture. Morrie illustrates his nonconformist approach to living and dying by forgiving, accepting, and loving. On the contrary, Morrie says the popular culture is founded on greed, selfishness, and superficiality.