External And Internal Relationships In The Novel 'The Memory Keeper's Daughter'

When a child is first born, they develop the first memory of their life. When a child learns how to ride a bike, that memory is also implanted in their mind. And when a child first plays a sport they love, another memory is added to their mind. Thousands upon thousands of memories are remembered from almost every person. We never stop to think that, unfortunately, people have memory loss and that people lose precious memories and they can’t retrieve it back. This author, Tara Altebrando makes this the same for The Leaving, by whisking the reader off on a suspenseful and high staked journey where Scarlett Waters, Lucas Davis, Sarah Madson, Adam Acosta and Kristen Daley return with a blank mind and no memories of their past they left behind.

In the book “The Memory Keeper's Daughter” by Kim Edwards a doctor and his wife have twins and the first child is a healthy boy but then the second child that comes out is a little girl with the signs of down syndrome and he asks his Nurse to take the baby away to an institution while he tells his wife the baby girl died. Through out the entire book it is a struggle for Dr. Henry's wife Norah to have closure with the fact that her baby girl is said to be dead and she never saw her, held her, or cared for her. Kim Edwards shows through the whole book that we are only human, the themes that life is beyond our control and through the connection between suffering and joy.

In the book also recall identical twins, in this case the community cannot have two identical persons in the community. “I’m the next on the list. I’ll have to select the one to be nurtured and the one to be released. It’s usually not hard though. Usually it’s just a matter of birth weight. We release the smaller of the two” (114). This quote is from Jonas’s Father. He is telling the family unit about the decision that he has to make about the identical twins that are going to be born. “It’s usually not hard though” Jonas’s father said this, gives us the sense of brutality and heartless feeling about Jonas’s community, and if this is what Jonas’s father does for a living, just imagined what others do, or are being assigned for their job. This actually shows that they do not have the understanding that memories would give them about feelings. Although, the individuals from the community think that being release is a good thing for them. “Well, there was the telling of his life. That is always first. Then the toast. We all raised our glasses and cheered. We chanted the anthem. He made a lovely good-bye speech. And several of us made little speeches wishing him well” (32). This quote is from Larissa; she is an old lady that Jonas bathed in the House of the old one day. She is given Jonas and idea of what the release is of the old. However in the community nobody talks about it and

“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

In the 1960’s the author was growing up with her mother and five other siblings, moving from place to place in search of a home where the

This book weaves the tale of four generations of the Banes family, who lives in Chicago’s poorest neighborhood called North Lawndale. The author spent a year from May 1989 to April 1990 with this family and observed its struggle with the prevailing health care system. The story rotates in the Banes family, Jackie Bane, her husband Robert Bane, their children Latrice, Demarest , Brianna, Jackie's grandmother Mrs. Cora Jackson and Jackie's father and Mrs. Jackson’s son Tommy Markham.

During the second session, the family was provided individual opportunities to relate his or her perceptions of the struggles in the family. Using Claudia as the identified patient, the family related struggles directly associated with Claudia’s behavior (Nichols, 2013, p. 15). Whitaker (1978) conceptualized the issues in a different perspective stating, “sounds like Claudia is in charge of getting Mom and Dad to start fighting, and you and Laura are in charge of helping them stop” (p. 11). Whitaker also indicated the parallels involving Carolyn’s anger at Claudia for hiding in her room and David’s propensity to hide in his study (p. 11). Using the unconscious frame of reference from session one, another conceptualization that was presented was that of Don’s willingness to talk as the reason that the family had not wanted to bring him to the first session (p. 12).

The research facility further abuses its institutional power by fabricating information about Jon’s mother and using it to influence Jon emotionally. Understanding that Jon would be more inclined to stay at the research facility if he had memories of a caring mother telling him to work hard, the institution decides to conceal the truth about his indifferent biological mother and alters his memory loop with lies. Jon is not the only one whose memories have been

The book I chose to read for this assignment was Expecting Adam, authored by Martha Beck, which is based on a true story written in 1999. Martha and John Beck are a young couple living in Cambridge, Massachusetts pursing their doctoral degrees. Martha writes the book from when their daughter, Katie, is a toddler (18 months old) and they are expecting their second child, Adam. She tells about the nine months from conception to the birth of her child, Adam, who has Down syndrome and her life changing values and experiences.

Parents make up an essential part of family. They teach, nurture and discipline their children to make them better in life. But, children's’ parents pass away or divorce leaving the child with one parent or none. In the 20th century biography, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot impulses emotions to reveal how the loss of a parent scars the life of a child forever and thereby causing the child to hate, lose themselves as a person and fear.

No matter the era, location, or even times of the darkest personal conflict, the power of love tends to always prevail. The power behind the love of family in particular seems to be the greatest. Despite the differences in the relationships, the deep bond of brotherhood in “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin shares some of the same levels of devotion that is present in “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty which is about the arduous trek a grandmother endures for her grandson. Although the stories differ in certain areas, both “Sonny’s Blues” and “A Worn Path” emphasizes the dedication one has both emotionally and physically and the importance of family bonds when someone they love encounters challenging and life threatening times by the displays of devotion to help the ones they love.

The Warmest December is a story of a young girl and her family as they move through an abusive past with an alcoholic man. Kenzie struggles through childhood only to find that she has started to become her father, Hy-Lo. She visits him daily and relives painful moments from her past at his bedside. The book is filled with difficult accounts of her physical and emotional abuse as she grows up. This paper will discuss the topics of recovery and forgiveness after a troubled past as it pertains to both The Warmest December and other books we have read, specifically Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Dandicat.

The bond between a mother and child is often spoken of as being unlike any other. Yet there are always exceptions to the rule where this connection isn 't as impenetrable as one might assume. This book is an example of this bond gradually becoming weaker over time. It shows how it affects the child, Bone, and leaves her vulnerable to the abuse of her step-father. Bone’s mother, Anney, had fallen in love with a man who abused her which at first, she’s unaware but eventually comes to realize but still chooses to stay with him. Throughout the book there are instances of Anney’s negligence in recognizing her daughter’s abuse and being of aid to her but wasn 't. In having to deal with her

Although a light read, her experience is heart-breaking as she is abused at home, institutionalized, and instead of being treated for her depression, doctor’s attempt to “feminize” her with eye shadow and lipstick. She is the type of advocate that makes noise in a silence because she tells a tale that would otherwise be unknown.

Imagine being a young girl living in Haiti, enjoying your day and suddenly you are being raped. What if every night your mother tested you, against your will, to see if you were still ‘whole’. In the book Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, characters experience a lot of trauma and they react to it in many ways. The main character Sophie and her mother, Martine, both internalize their trauma at the beginning of the book, but throughout the course of the book Sophie learns that it is okay to talk about and share her experiences. However, Martine continues to run away from reminders of the experiences that happened. Martine also struggles being near Sophie because she is a constant reminder of her rape. Edwidge Danticat uses conveys the reactions to trauma through the characters actions after. Martine and Sophie both struggle to deal with their traumatic experiences and suffering, in a healthy way, throughout the book.