Essay on Downfall of the Family in We Were the Mulvaneys

Dysfunction and volatility is common amongst families. These families dislike their kin and often resent them. In the play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams, the Politt family does not function as a normal family. Brick, Maggie, and Big Daddy are three members of the family that have the most problems that affect the whole family.

But at the end, miraculously, they succeeded in coming together to reestablish the harmony that they may have lost forever—and Patrick can be entirely credited for this. The past event of Marianne’s rape transformed him into an emotional, somewhat sensitive adult, enlightening him to the importance of family. At the reunion, Patrick “let his hand fall on my (Judd’s) shoulder. Brotherly, affectionate” (Oates Loc 8674), illustrating the strengthened bond between the two brothers which would have been unimaginable a decade ago. Without Patrick joining in on the new, intimate amelioration, it would have been impossible for the Mulvaneys to truly reach wholeness.

Many times people are asked to think about what is important to them. A person may say their home, car, children, material items and some may even say family. In the book Little Women (1868-1869) written by Louisa May Alcott illustrates several family values. The story of the March family starts out during the civil war in New England. The family is left to survive on their own because their father went to protect his country. During the years of life the March children, Margaret (Meg), Josephine (Jo), Beth and Amy, had to face the fact that they were very poor, and couldn't have everything that they fancied. As the family stayed home and awaited the return of their father they received "fatherly" support from an old neighbor Mr.

Joyce Carol Oates’ We Were the Mulvaneys reveals a heart-breaking aspect of family unity by exposing the raw characterization of Michael Mulvaney, showing their struggle against the town, and revealing the betrayal of their mother. The Mulvaneys had always been the most “envied” (Oates 3) family in Mt. Ephraim, New York; so when the townspeople find out about Marianne Mulvaney’s rape, they became the most “pitied” family. Meanwhile, Michael, her father, can no longer stand the sight of his innocent, yet damaged daughter and begins to fall into an alcoholic rut after knowing she won’t get justice, even more so when he knows it’s because she wishes not to. He left the house for long periods of time and did not acknowledge his daughter for months. In an attempt to fix it, Marianne’s mother, Corrine, blinded by her love for Michael and desperate to regain his old persona, dismisses Marianne from their home and into

People may think that how could this happen since they both were living the same circumstances. However, in the book Wes Moore, the boys do not have equal opportunities in terms of parenting,

One would say that on a literal level The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is about the Joad family's journey to California during The Dust Bowl. However, it is also about the unity of a family and the concept of birth and death, both literal and abstract. Along with this, the idea of a family unit is explored through these births and deaths.

The novel translates our problems into real life by showing us how people can, without knowing it, emotionally abuse others because of their lack of knowledge or decisions they have made. The main character Kate, in her adulthood, sees Matt (her older brother) as an unhappy man - because he was unable to follow through with his university dreams. Kate, later attends university expanding her knowledge past that of her brother Matt’s making her feel as if she cannot speak to him in the same way that she used to. At one point in her adulthood Kate said “He was waiting for me to go on, to describe my work to him, but I could not bring myself to do that” (Lawson 275). This connects with the subject matter of emotional abuse because Kate is hurting her older brother Matt. She does not realize that he wants to speak with her and have a relationship with her - she feels that because of her university education she cannot interact with him any more. In the real world many people face emotional abuse. People are ostracized for many reasons including level of intellect or the decisions they have made. Family members and close friends have changed their loved one’s lives because of their opinions on them. In the article Nature vs. Nurture: Mental Illness Triggered By Life Events And Not Through Genetics it is stated that “despite the fact that genetics can potentially influence the individual's mental health, traumatic events are still considered as the most influential factor”. The traumatic event of their parent’s dying resulted in Matt making bad decisions and then later not going university as a result. This caused the greatest tragedy in the novel; the loss of the relationship between Kate and Matt. Kate began to speak less with Matt and when she came to visit him he suffered from anxiety, lack of sleep, etc.. Kate stopped talking to Matt even though

Romare Bearden, a great artist that expresses many feelings throughout his photos. He expresses different types of feelings and meanings through colors, background, character demeanor, and even the posture of the characters in the picture. My favorite painting by Romare Bearden has to be "The Family"(1941) due to the fact that I had a personal connection to the picture. I never knew of Romare Bearden's other painting that related to this one which is "The Family"(1975). This is a similar picture but the family isn't as depressed as the family in the first picture. This family doesn't seem to be struggling and

The oral histories taken by Howard of Chuck Plant and Fitz Spencer illustrate his points regarding silence creating space for contemplation as Chuck is molested by an older male driver on a rainy afternoon. Chuck wonders if he should say something to someone but “…I finally decided not to say anything to anybody. I have no regrets about that” (p.7). Fitz is given oral sex by one of the resident priests at the church his family attends and he believes that another priest there as well as all of the boys were aware of what was happening. “I took it more seriously than the others did. They used to giggle about it” (p.9). Fitz also decides to say nothing.

The Brice family consisted of a family unit of five. The father Davie a lawyer, the mother Caroline, their teenage daughter Claudia, the younger daughter Laura and younger son Don.

The lives of Harriet Jacobs in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave includes diverse experiences that allow them to share common factors to relate to each others stories. Jacobs and Douglass were born during the slavery period in the “less harsh” regions of North Carolina and Maryland. Looking at and comparing their childhood, Jacobs and Douglass both enjoy the happier moments until they both experienced the loss of their mother at an early age. Respectively, Jacobs and Douglass conclude that slavery deteriorates the relationship between families - instead of building them up.

In the novel Little Women by: Louisa May Alcott, a common theme is expressed throughout. To the family in this story, each other is the only thing that matters, therefore, displaying the message family is the most important thing you can have in your life. The four sisters, Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy, belong to a very poor family in which the father is away at the military, leaving their mother alone to care for the children. The mother works very hard, but still can not manage to create a solid income for their family. The four sisters understand how hard their mother works

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee. The novel is about the experiences of two siblings growing up in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. Scout and her brother, Jem Finch, over several years, learn valuable lessons about life and society. The main themes of the story are the loss of cherubic innocence and the rift of inequality in society. The novel is largely influenced when it was written by the author’s own experiences, Civil Rights, and the Great Depression. The Great Depression is referenced many times in the novel since the Great Depression plays an important part influencing the story’s setting, plot, and characters. In To Kill a Mockingbird there are signs that the Great Depression is present and that certain characters are affected more by it than others, and the Great Depression is shown in the story’s families and their lives.

Thirdly, the sexual revolution has cracked the nuclear family ideology. Because the “erotic” is now the foundation of "personal well-being" and "fulfillment" in marital relationship with some people rather than the “romantic love” foundation of the traditional nuclear family. That saw too many teenagers becoming unmarried females in the United States at the early age. Because the ways society has valued sexual ideology, people and things are