Subject of Family in Lessing’s Flight, Hughes’ Mother to Son, Kincaid's Girl and Adrienne Rich's Po

Subject of Family in Lessing’s Flight, Hughes’ Mother to Son, Kincaid's Girl and Adrienne Rich's Poem, Merced

Family as defined by Webster’s College Dictionary can be one of many different people. Family can be your parents, spouse, children, brother, sister, grandmother, uncle, any blood relative, or even people who are not blood related that share that common bond (Webster 475). My definition of family is similar to Webster’s, but I feel that there is more to it than just being a blood relative or close friend. A person’s actions, beliefs, and morals play a major role in deciding who makes it into that “family” group. Family becomes more of an idea or feeling, like love or hate, than just who a person is or where they fall in your family tree. There have been people that I have considered closer than family just by their actions, even though they were nowhere near related to me. Fortunately, I have not had any blood relation family members make me wish they were not in my “family” (maybe my older sister when we were younger, but that doesn’t count). While reading from Children and Families in our text, I came across many readings that I feel were inspired in many different ways by what the author believed was “family.” There were two readings that jumped out at me and reminded me of my view of how a family should be in their interactions with each other. They were the short story “Flight” by Doris Lessing and the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. There was also one writing that I read that went against my idea of family and made me happy that this wasn’t the way that my family acted as I grew up, that was “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid. And while some authors lean their writing one direction or another, Adrienn...

... middle of paper ...

...s us think that this can happen to any of us, even if we think that we are loved and in a family. This helps us realize how important it is to keep the family together, throughout anything that happens.

While reading through the writings from Children and Families in our textbook, I see many different connotations of what “family” means either to the writer, or the meaning that the writer is trying to place in their story or poem. Often times the writer is portraying their own culture or that of which they are writing, and at other times they may be taking a straightforward, eye-opening look stand at what “family” has become to some people and that it needs to be changed back to a positive part of life. Again, a member of your family doesn’t have to be a blood relative, they can be anyone who has an impact on your life, positive or negative, friend or enemy.