The Imprints Parents Leave Behind

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Recommended: Family influence on individual development

As you grow up parents can hold high expectations of who they want their child to mold into as an adult. Some parents can be more strict than others and put more pressure on their children to be something their not. In the stories The Glass Menagerie written by Tennessee Williams and Proof written by David Auburn the two main characters have trouble pleasing their parents. Both girls Laura and Catherine have to overcome their own fears before they can find out who they really are as people.
In The Glass Menagerie Laura is a young adult in her mid twenties living with her over-bearing mother Amanda and her adventurous brother Tom. Amanda puts pressure on Laura to be as appealing to gentlemen as she was when she was younger. She shares stories with her children bragging over the amount of gentlemen callers that would come and try to win her over. She also shares the mistake of falling for their father who left Amanda and her kids a long time ago. Laura is nothing like her mother. Her brother uses the word crippled to describe his sister Laura and Amanda despises such talk. Laura is not like the other girls and is painfully shy. Her mother still pushes her to become something more than just a home girl who listens to records and plays with glass figurines Laura is enrolled in the Rubicam's Business College where her mother believes will give Laura another asset to present to her gentlemen callers. Amanda becomes unnerved when she finds out Laura has dropped out and spent her days strolling and wandering around by herself. Laura could not continue on with her schooling for her nerves were so bad she shook with fear and even threw up when she had to give a presentation. Laura had a case of being extremely shy and socially awkward. Ama...

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...o happen to be leading to a life both their parents aspired for them to live. In both stories Laura and Catherine's conquered what they had been holding them back. For Laura it was her mother constantly pushing to finding a man before she was even ready. She needed to feel the confidence her mother strived for her to have and it took Jim to give that to her. Catherine needed to understand she held a great gift just like her dad and if she used her gift she would not automatically end up crazy like her father.
Every parent impacts their child’s life whether they are constantly nagging like Amanda Laura's mom or unfortunately not in it anymore like Catherine's dad. The lessons parents teach do not fade because it shapes the child into the person they have become. Parents are here to guide their children down a path for a better life than they have lived themselves.

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