The Importance of Family in McCullers' The Member of the Wedding

849 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of divorce on children introduction

The Importance of Family in McCullers' The Member of the Wedding

"I don't need my mother or my father anymore. I am a teenager, who needs them? I can definitely live on my own." Carson McCullers wrote a novel, The Member of the Wedding (1946), which put a twelve-year-old girl, Frankie, in the situation of leaving her family and hometown. After last year, her best friend moved away and she was left alone. She used to be very popular and hung out in all of the clubhouses around town. Now, she was not invited to any of them. Frankie is also very jealous of her older brother and his fiancé because they get to travel all over the world. At their wedding, she plans to go off with them, and explore the world as three. Her father's helper, Berenice Sadie Brown, who is an African-American, tries to explain why she needs to stay here with her father. Not listening, she packs her bags with all of her belongings, and waits for the wedding.

The wedding is celebrated an hour away from her hometown, so they are going to travel on a train. Every night, she would think about the long train ride over, but knew in the end, she would be away from the awful town. John Henry, her six-year-old cousin, always follows her around everywhere that she goes. He told her that he was running away with her, where ever she decided to go. After realizing that her brother was not going to let her stay with them, she runs away into the night. J...

... middle of paper ...

...d pretty much helped Frances change her mind as well. Now, all she wanted was to be with her father.

Carson McCullers wrote an extraordinary novel called, The Member of the Wedding. This novel shows real life situations to a teenager's mind. Frankie hated the town she lived, and hated living with her father. She wanted to explore the world at the age of twelve. Finally, after all of the obstacles she went through, she realized that family is exactly what she needed in her life at that moment. Although some teenager may not understand, family is one of the most important things that anyone will ever have in their life.

McCullers, Carson. The Member of the Wedding. Boston: Haughton Mifflin Company.

1973.

Show More
Related

  • Atilla the Hun and Genghiz Khan

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unlike Attila, Genghiz Khan also known as Temujin and founder of the Mongol Empire in 1206, fought his way to the top after being exiled from his people at an early age. He was known to be just because he ensure that the spoils were distributed evenly among his warriors and he refrained his warriors from harming the innocents without his permission. Due to his fairness, he lost some friends that fought along with him to retrieve his wife, which the Merkits kidnapped. He was very diplomatic and laid down a solid rule for his army to abide by. He also came up with a good defense mechanism of dividing his army into “arbans (10 people), zuun...

    Read More

  • The Lizzie Borden House: Haunted Buildings

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a small child, about two years old, Lizzie's mother died. Her father, Andrew, married again. Lizzie did not like her stepmother even though she did not really remember her real mother at all. She never really accepted her stepmother as the person who raised her. And then one afternoon they were robber sunk in the house a...

    Read More

  • Genghis Khan History

    1284 Words  | 3 Pages

    Genghis Khan’s leadership, the Mongols were simply a group of diverse tribes. Constantly hostile towards China, the Mongols went through the Bronze Age and Iron Age as separate tribes. However, during the 12th and 13th centuries, this would change. Thought to be born in 1155 or 1162, Temujin (later known as Chinggis and Genghis Khan) was one of six siblings and a violent nomad. Coincidently, he had a blood clot in his arm - to the Mongols, this was a sign meaning he was destined to become a great leader.

    Read More

  • What Is The Connotation In The Great Gatsby

    483 Words  | 1 Pages

    reveals the struggle daisy must encounter of being a married woman who longs for another man.

    Read More

  • Faith Ringgold’s Bitter Net: African-American Quilting

    1670 Words  | 4 Pages

    The book by Faith Ringgold entitled Faith Ringgold, explains the story of a mother and daughter during the Harlem Renaissance era in New York. According to the book, the series deals with many generational issues of a middle class black family and focuses on the drama, and tension between a mother and daughter who are profoundly different. The series represents a relationship much like the relationship between Faith Ringgold and her two daughters. The story follows a daughter named, Celia Cleopatra Price, a graduate of Howard University, who graduated first in her class. She is unable to identify with her mother, CeeCee. CeeCee had only finished the 8th grade and dropped out due to her pregnancy with Celia. CeeCee is a very creative individual and makes bags; she is married to”the dentist”, who a young CeeCee meets in the first quilt Love in the School Yard. CeeCee thinks Celia has develope...

    Read More

  • Room, by Emma Donoghue

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since Ma’s kidnapping, seven years prior, she has survived in the shed of her capturer’s backyard. This novel contains literary elements that are not only crucial to the story, but give significance as well. The point-of-view brings a powerful perspective for the audience, while the setting and atmosphere not only affect the characters but evokes emotion and gives the reader a mental picture of their lives, and the impacting theme along-side conflict, both internal and external, are shown throughout the novel. The author chooses to write the novel through the eyes of the main character and narrator, Jack. Jack’s perception of the world is confined to an eleven foot square room.

    Read More

  • A Family Apart Analysis

    2079 Words  | 5 Pages

    When she and her Ma got home, it was almost dark outside. Frances saw something suspicious, her brother(Mike), shouldn’t be out at this time. Once they got inside, Frances and her mother tucked in all the children and went to bed themselves. Frances was still wondering about Mike, “What was he doing?” She fell asleep falling wiry of her younger brother. When she up, they had breakfast, and headed to their jobs. Frances was still wondering what Mike had done. “Was he stealing? No, their Da(father) had taught them better than that before he fell ill and died. She had never seen her mother cry until then.

    Read More

  • Sleep Deprivation In Early Schools

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Studies conducted over a nearly 30 year span have consistently shown only a small fraction of adolescents get the 9 or more hours of sleep they require to function at their best. While teenagers are notorious for causing their own sleep difficulties, sleep loss among adolescents is confined primarily to school nights. “Sleep deprivation is epidemic among adolescents, with potentially serious impacts on mental and physical health, safety, and learning. Most teenagers undergo a biological shift to a later sleep-wake cycle, which can make early school start times particularly challenging.” says

    Read More

  • Sleep Deprivation

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    It’s seven thirty in the morning, the time that most American high schools begin class. Instead of being chipper and ready to learn, most teenagers, at this time of the morning, can barely remain awake. These puffy eyed pupils are by no means ready to learn. Sixty percent children under 18 reported being sleepy during the day, with another fifteen percent reporting that they had fallen asleep during the school day within the past year (National Sleep Foundation, Dozing). Though adolescents require a larger amount of sleep than younger children, they usually receive much less (Indiana University Center for Adolescent Studies). The amount of sleep a teenager receives affects him or her both physically and mentally. Sleep deprived teenagers are more likely to be irritable, be depressed, not perform up to their capabilities in school, and have a decreased ability to handle complex tasks (National Parent Information Network). Though teenage sleep deprivation is a big problem, some simple solutions such as rescheduling the school day to fit teenagers’ biological needs, setting consistent sleep schedules, and teaching children the importance of proper sleep habits can easily remedy this problem.

    Read More

  • Tactics Of Genghis Khan

    1444 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Mongol empire was the strongest during the 14th century out of any others in the world. This rise to power came largely as a direct result from their new ruler who would later be known as Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan is revered as one of the greatest military leaders in all of History. His numerous and at the time unheard of military strategies caught everyone he fought by surprise which may have been the most important factor. There are many factors that made Genghis Khan’s empire so successful such as the element of surprise, the unity of smaller tribes throughout Mongolia and the training of individual soldiers.

    Read More

  • Walk Two Moons Sparknotes

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...self exaggerated stories. One thing she tells herself is that her mother was kidnapped by a lunatic. On another occasion a classmate asks where her mother is and she says that her mother is on a business trip in London. Their similarities help each other to grow and mature and eventually come to terms with their situations.

    Read More

  • The Mongol Empire

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...on or death from other environmental disasters, the people followed a courageous commander who ultimately controlled their every move. That leader, Genghis Khan, and those subsequent to him, without a doubt were instrumental in bringing the Mongol Empire to power, replacing the many established empires they overtook along their migration, and assuring triumphant victory over those empires wherever they journeyed.

    Read More

  • Sleep Deprivation in America's Students

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the many arising problems of America’s students is they are becoming sleep deprived. The busy daily schedules of children and teens are not allowing them to get enough sleep. “Less sleep is unhealthy especially with the new research that as teenagers move through teenage years, they need increasing amounts of sleep. Nine hours per night is the necessary amount to avoid behaviors associated with sleep deprivation” (Final Report Summary, 2001). Among other things, sleep deprivation is causing students to sleep during class instead of being awake and aware. When the students are sleeping in class, they are not retaining information being taught to them. Researchers have now proven that the majority of adolescents retain more information later in the day. Contrary to this information, America’s school systems are programmed to begin early in the day, which according to the sleep rhythms of most teenagers, they should still be sleeping.

    Read More

  • The Two Grannies

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... she was scared and alone. With the Grandmother, she already prepared to die if anything happens. She doesn’t have to wear the fancy outfit for the trip but she did it anyways. At the end, she refuses to die and begs for survival. In the end, she realized the error of her ways in the story and that even with the difference between her and The Misfit, they are both the same in sin. Both the grandmother has reach an understanding of fear of death and have self-discover who they really are their whole lives.

    Read More

  • Genghis Khan Essay

    2237 Words  | 5 Pages

    Like previously stated Genghis Khan was one of the world's greatest rulers to live. Through his struggle for power, which began at a young age, his political and military achievements, and his many conquests that conclusively led to the largest empire ever known to man, Genghis Khan is surely regarded as one of the greats. Such a superb empire could never have been formed without visionary leadership, great organizational skills, the most resilient cavalry ever known to man, an army of outstanding archers and last, but certainly not least an overflowing amount of devastation and havoc. The legacy of Genghis Khan, his sons, and grandsons is one of cultural development, artistic achievement, and of course an entire continent being united under "Mongolian Peace."

    Read More

More about The Importance of Family in McCullers' The Member of the Wedding

Open Document