...Divorced, Beheaded, Survived – by Robin Black

“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are two stories that reveal the consequences of individual suffering. These consequences include estranging relationships, bitter behavior, and even illness, addiction, or death. Throughout each of these stories, Sonny and John’s wife, known as the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, continue to suffer due to John’s and Sonny’s brother’s, known as the narrator of “Sonny’s Blues”, failure to meet obligations and familial compassion. Neither the narrator in “Sonny’s Blues” nor the husband, John, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” serve as the villains of the stories, however, I believe we are able to see how both their inabilities to effectively

“Killings” by Andre Dubos is a short story surrounding the death of a young man named Frank Fowler. Following his father Matt, the story opens at Frank’s funeral proceeding where family, mother Ruth and siblings Steve and Cathleen, and friends have gathered at the cemetery to send Frank. The way the family expresses their grief not only suggest that Frank’s death was tragic, but also at the hands of another individual, specially expressed by Steven repeating “I should kill him” when the service had closed (Dubos, 1). Evidence that the death was sudden and tragic continues as a month passes and the Ruth and Matt still struggle to grieve over their son. Tension intensifies towards Frank’s murderer as Matt and his friend, Willis Trottier, discuss

Many people define their lives by the relationships within their family. They are someone’s daughter, someone’s wife, or someone’s mother or father. The loss of a family member, especially due to death, creates a radical readjustment to people’s day to day lives and how they see and feel about themselves. Sometimes the process of grief can last over several years and how it is mentally processed and dealt with is different for everyone. “Mud” by Geoffrey Forsyth, shows an insightful view of a grieving man who had already lost his father and grandmother and is now just coming to terms with the loss of his wife two years prior. The entire story is written in first person point of view which allows for the reader to fully engage themselves in the grief and strife of the narrator’s life. Geoffrey’s story “Mud” begins in the home of the narrator where he encounters these dead family members and has to decide if he is ready to move on from his grief and say goodbye or stay behind and be consumed by it.

The theme of parental mourning has been a universal one throughout the centuries. In the literature on bereavement, writers repeat certain themes, thoughts, and reflections; they talk of the powerful and often conflicting emotions involved in "the pain of grief and the

In his essay “The Lonely Death of George Bell,” N.R. Kleinfeld describes how life goes on after people die and they are survived by their belongings and memories they gave to people. Kleinfield illustrates how even melancholy deaths can affect society in positive and negative ways. Although he chose an interesting topic to discuss, N.R. Kleinfield’s essay failed to be captivating because it contained monotonous, unnecessary detail and had a disconnected thesis.

People deal with grief in different ways. As a small child, the way the narrator handles uncertainty and pain is distressing, yet also expected. She finds distractions in the furniture and decorations. The child notices a

This fiction tale is that of a diary of the narrator herself as she is kept by her husband.

The death of the narrator’s daughter, Grace, is something that the narrator suffers a lot and it is shocking for him as a father and a family. He remembers that his mother has given him the responsibility to take care of his brother, Sonny, which he is not able to do so. The death of his daughter leads him to approach his brother and listen to Sonny about what does he feels about life he has been going through for a long time.

“I don’t feel so well” Jan’s father had suddenly said one morning at breakfast. Her father, a World War II veteran, stood up and went to go lie down. The rest of the family continued with their day. Michael went to see how his father was. When he tried to wake him his father didn’t respond or make a sound. The 11 year old boy was the one who first knew that his father was gone. The memory of her father’s loss is vivid in Jan’s mind. It was a substantial shock after he had survived the horrors of World War II and then just passed away quietly at home one morning. Jan now understands how

Death is conceptually understood by few, yet experienced by many. Having a multitude of causes, death has devastated many families in various ways. Accidental deaths could be prevented, but sadly are not. In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” the narrator was responsible of Doodle’s, his younger brother's, death in the following ways: he pushed Doodle too hard to function normally, he didn't follow the doctor’s clear orders, and he left Doodle in his most desperate time of need. The narrator strove to make Doodle be a normal boy, and this was a massive factor that surrounded his death.

A beloved family member’s death may either torn a family apart or bring them closer together. Some people take the news of their loved one’s death harder than others. Some people have different reactions than others. Some people deal with the suffering different from others. In Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, the narrator and Sonny deals with their suffering different. After the death of both of their parents, the brother faced reality and locked his feelings up. Sonny is more open and deals with his suffering by playing music and doing drugs. At the end of the story, both brothers have learn to understand and listen to each other. In my case, my families, including my aunts and uncles from my father’s side, enjoy each other’s company before

Loss can impact a family’s relationship. The novel “Ordinary People” by Judith Guest demonstrates how the loss of a family member could influence the relationship of a family. The Jarretts are an American family composed of four members Beth, Calvin, Conrad and Buck Jarrett. However a tragic accident caused the family to become one of three. In the beginning of the story the family deals with minor problems that had an insignificant impact to them. After the accident their son Conrad faced depression problems to which he recovered from with frequent visits to a psychiatrist. Calvin Jarrett, the father is a responsible man who along the story builds a stronger relationship with his son after the separation with his wife. Beth Jarrett is a strong

The short story, "A Dead Woman 's Secret," is about a mother who just passed away. Her children, who became successful adults because of mother 's love and nurture, kneeled down beside her bed. The thought of letting her go was terrifying, so they decided to read her old letters. The first few stocks of letters brought a lot of positive emotions and brightened up their mood. As they dug further down through the letters, they learned the truth that absolutely destroyed the image of a perfect mother that they had on their mind ever since the childhood. They found love letters from a man they never heard of. Mother 's secret was extremely disappointing to handle, so they left her alone in a darkened room. The story demonstrates how people 's perspective of others ' can change in a single moment because of an insignificant secret that floated after drowning in tears for decades.

Thesis: In “The Possessive”, Sharon Olds uses a simple haircut to depict the splitting of ends between mother and daughter. Quotes: “In her bright helmet/she looks at me as if across a/great distance” (Olds 15-17). The narrator's daughter’s new hairstyle pushes them farther apart from a close mother bird’s watchful eye to then only being allowed to watch the spreading of her baby’s wings.

The short story heavily revolves around the protagonist woman Mary and her depressed son. The two are driving home from the hospital and the tension between them is very high. The reader is told that Mary and her husband Seamus was married for 20 years before conceiving David which resulted in the two being older parents and even more importantly not expected to become parents. Mary can’t comprehend what has made David so depressed though she realises that she may could have been there for him more often when he was growing up. The primary themes in the story is depression and the journey from life to death, furthermore motherly love and family dynamic plays an important role in the story “She smiled at the idea that now she would have two of them for company” (P.3, L. 84). The story is narrated by a third person omniscient narrator, this is evident by the narrator knowing the different character’s thoughts and furthermore the story begins with in media res “Mammy, how do people die?” he had asked, and Mary explained