The Third Parent
Once there was a princess who was born with three parents- a lovely mother, a wonderful father, and a third who was neither. The princess lived with her mother and father in a humble but charming little castle near the sea. The third parent lived inside the princess's head.
The princess did not realize the existence of this parent for quite some time. It had hidden itself deep in her psyche, biding its time, waiting for precisely the right moment. It fed on her secret fears and weaknesses and grew strong on them. It watched her true parents stealthily through the princess's innocent eyes, waiting for them to look away for just one moment. They seemed unlikely to do so, as the princess was greatly cherished and well cared-for. In the princess's ninth year, however, the moment arrived. It was not the true parents' fault. They were only human. Still, it was rather unfortunate.
The princess was, by nature, a blithe little soul. She loved to sing and dance and play in the courtyard with her younger brother and the royal pets. When not at play in the sun, she was equally happy retiring to her sunny yellow bedroom, where the curtains were laughing daisies and baby animals romped on the walls. There she would rest with a stack of books given her by the Old King, her father's father, and read contentedly for hours.
One day the young king and queen had to face a sad matter, and for just one moment their attention was turned from their daughter. The princess came into her room one day to find her mother weeping. When told the reason why, the princess wanted to weep too, but could not. In that moment when her deepest fear had been realized, the Third Parent reached its full strength.
"No crying," it said to her. "And no talking." It shooed the queen out of the little yellow room and, using the princess's own hands, locked the door behind her. There the princess remained as a prisoner to the Third Parent.
The animals on the wall ceased their romping. The daisies no longer laughed. The sun disappeared from the window and the air grew heavy and still.
Numbly, the princess crossed the darkened room to gaze into her mirror. She felt so cold and strange, she had to see if her appearance had altered.
She had to watch her father leave her mother, and “the gloomy atmosphere of their once happy home overclouded the morning of [her] life” (187). She had to watch her mother suffer from a heartache that eventually killed her, and was then given a lifelong babysitter. It then seemed that Edward attempted to buy the love of his daughter with the promise of financial stability. It seemed as though he tried to buy his way out of guilt by employing the best educators for his daughter. Despite his efforts, he formed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and met death after falling from his horse on route to see Xarifa. Because of these ill-fortuned events, Xarifa found herself thrown into a relationship with a man that she might not have otherwise pursued. Similarly, the children of the world today find themselves suffering as a result of their relationship with their parents. How involved a parent is in a child’s life constantly affects the way the child behaves and the actions they take.
Michalopoulou is selectively descriptive when it comes to the main character of the unnamed father. With Michalopoulou's description of the father the reader is led to believe that he does not care about his children: "He'd gotten used to their backs, but it had been a long time since he'd seen their faces" (Michalopoulou, 77). Throughout the story one can see that the father is not completely like what he is first perceived to be. The father sneaks around and begins to cheat on his wife. The reader is informed that the wife is wheelchair bound and unable to move due to paralysis. When the father is "caught" cheating he leaves home and begins a life with his paramour, a young real estate agent. Feeling bad about leaving his two children he attempts to reconnect with them.
Presenting the story from a third person perception and having the narration by the mother or “Mama” gives the story great relevance to real life situations that ha...
Despite the problems that would arise, many people are beginning to feel that the drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. Studies have been made; however, no hard evidence suggesting lowering the minimum drinking age would help have surfaced. Although there are countless studies of how alcohol has many harmful effects on teenagers, there is a great deal of negative criticism about what if the drinking age is lowered. Some would say the morally right decision is to not allow teens the chance to hurt themselves. Everyone is entitled to having his or her own opinions and beliefs. However, the overall health of the youth of our country seems a little more important than some personal belief. The drinking age should not be lowered due to the fact drunk driving, juvenile delinquency, and alcohol-related medical issues related to teens will increase.
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
Parti, T., & Levinthal, D. (2012, November 17). 5 month takeaways from 2012. Retrieved from
Jeannette's mother let her children roam free and protect themselves against the dangers of the world. “fussing over children who cry only encourages them, ….. its positive reinforcement for bad behavior” pg.17. This caused Jeannette at age 3, to fall into fire and go to the hospital for months. Jeannette's mother didn’t want to have to deal with her children and told them to figure things out for themselves. This selfish act done by her mother forced her children to grow up faster. Therefore Jeannette resented her parents and wanted to make a better life for not only herself but her future children. This pushed her to succeed in life, yet without her negative relationships with her parents she might have not been able to do great things in her
Bob Marley once said, “Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.” This is the case when it comes to teens and alcohol. In America, the National Minimum Legal Drinking Age is a topic of great debate and controversy. Many people argue that the age restriction provides a safe environment for all citizens; whereas others disagree that the law creates an untrustworthy aura among teens. If the minimum legal drinking age were to be lowered, most people would be affected by it, whether it be by an increase in drunk-driving or a rise in crimes. Although teens are legally considered adults by the age of eighteen and the minimum legal drinking age prompts underage teens to exhibit risky behavior, the age restriction should not be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen because young teens would have easier access to alcohol, the minimum legal drinking age has decreased alcohol-related problems, and alcohol can cause damage to underage drinkers.
Pollock uses different aspects of writing to back up her thesis and to emphasis that there is more to the subject the artist use in their creation. By using a variety of resources and counter-arguing them, she is backing up her own thesis and proving that there is a stereotype in art history where art historians do not explain past the artistic influence thus does not fully explain an artist or their artworks. She makes a point that because of this, there has to be changes to art practices today in order to fully understand the meaning behind artworks.
Primarily, the drinking age should be lowered to teach responsibility and safety in young adults. The idea seems paradoxical; however, the high drinking age that is present in the U.S. today has only pushed underage drinking underground (Balko 458). In fact, America has the highest minimum drinking age in the world (Balko 459). Even though the American drinking age remains high, America still remains with an astonishingly large number of alcohol-related accidents and deaths. Is this statement a coincidence? Throughout the years alcohol has become more and more of an issue in young adults, but the correct actions are not taking place. If alcohol were to legally be put in the hands of Americans eighteen and above, these individuals would likely be forced to learn a sense of safety and responsibility. As stated by Caryn Sul...
...cts of the mother and the descriptions, which are presented to us from her, are very conclusive and need to be further examined to draw out any further conclusions on how she ?really? felt. The mother-daughter relationship between the narrator and her daughter bring up many questions as to their exact connection. At times it seems strong, as when the narrator is relating her childhood and recounting the good times. Other times it is very strained. All in all the connection between the two seems to be a very real and lifelike account of an actual mother-daughter relationship.
The debate of whether the minimum legal drinking age should be lowered or not has been around for many years even since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 raised the MLDA to age 21. Prior to that, the government has t...
He goes on to say, “this book still has a lot to say to all kinds of preschool, junior and middle-school girls -- and there are legions of high school and college women who'd benefit as well.” Obviously written for a younger reading audience, the author is a retired pre-school teacher, this story appeals to readers of all ages. A witty story about a sassy princess and her independence The Paper Princess is absolutely a must read in children’s literature.
What if you had the opportunity to see something you had never seen before. Would you take a camera? Would you go? Would you give it a thought? This is what goes through the mind of a person like me. More specifically a middle child, they put way too much thought into things. I am Josh, and I am a middle child. I’ve said it once and one more time wont hurt, being a middle child was hard let me tell you about me.
I had finally seen an ending to this infinite trail. She slowed down and smiled her smile was as enchanting as the sun peeping through the intertwined trees. We had now arrived at the edge of a cliff it looked like no one had been there before. The sun was gleaming like the heavens and the sea right in front of the cliff lifted its spirit and crashed into the cliff. She sat down in a patch of grass and opened up her bag. She took out a photo of Vivian, a dress and a pair of shoes she left them there and laid down to next to it still smiling.