Despair sometimes becomes the basis of inspiration in which we live out our lives. The "City of One: A Memoir" by Francine Cournos is a testament to this notion by basing her desire to study medicine and psychoanalytic as a result of her wanting to understand her mother’s death. "City of One: A Memoir" is a story of triumph and inspiration through the notion that while an individual’s life may be difficult there is always something greater to live for. Francine Cournos life gives insight into how vicious separation within the attachment cycle can be and while early attachment theorists may say one thing about how it can affect the way we function later in life there is always a chance to stand against it.
The tragic events of Francine Cournos memoir begins when she was three years old when she lost her father from cerebral hemorrhage. For some children this would be enough to permanently damage the psyche of a child, but when Francine was five she lost her grandfather to hemorrhaging and then when she eleven she also lost her mother after a long battle with breast cancer. This forced her sister and her to live with their grandmother, who was rapidly approaching senility. Francine and her sister, Alexis, being under their grandmothers care lasted until she couldn 't manage it anymore, which was about two years. Afterwards their extended family gave away both of them to the sometimes vicious foster care system. To Francine this was the most traumatic event of them all and
In order to earn her degree in creative writing she needed to complete a novel or set of short stories. She intended to write her memoir but ran into some issues. The emotions about what had happened were still too raw and reliving her memories was too much for her to handle at that time. Instead, she wrote an autobiographical novel. The events that happened in the book all happened to her, but the presence of a fictional character to represent her helped create tolerable distance between her and her experiences. This novel prepared her to write her memoir. Writing her memoir allowed her confront her past in a new way. It required her to revisit her memories as a writer rather than as herself with all her entangled emotions. Examining her life through a different lens allowed her to heal.
Everyone has a desire, something that they want to achieve or obtain for them. Whether it is ethical or immoral, having desires is almost inevitable. Sometimes these desires make people go through tough times. Tragic occurrences such as death and broken relationships shape the lives of people positively or negatively. In the following essay, “Many Rivers to Cross” and the short stories, “Two Kinds” and “Everyday Use”, the protagonists of these texts struggle to achieve their desire, but because of those struggles the main characters do eventually come to a revelation.
The importance of cherishing the invaluable individuals in one’s life is apparent in Matthew Teague’s personal journey of his wife’s battle against cancer and a genuine friendship. “The Friend” depicts emotional appeal, comparisons, and vivid imagery to portray the significance of valuing loved ones. There is no single definition for a loved one. A spouse, children, family, friends, the reciprocated love can build everlasting bonds, but why is it so important to treasure the relationships we have? Just because they are family, it may not signify that we love them; just because they are acquaintances, it does not necessarily indicate that we have a type of love for them either. The pure love we possess for someone is rare and never chosen or obliged, so this valuable love should be nurtured, for people are bound within unpredictable time limits. Nichole’s, Teague’s wife’s, diagnosis of cancer was a realization for him that his days with her were numbered. Along the way, Dane Faucheux, the couple’s friend, was devoted to aiding the Teague family during their struggling time. Faucheux’s undisputed support for Teague and his family surprised him numerous times throughout their experience. This love in the sublime story is seeped with appreciation for those Teague values in his life. The realization and worth of his deep endearment for his family and friend is transferred to the reader, and he or she begins to realize the reality of the given time to value those who are most important.
She learned that if she fought back, it would only make matters worse. Francine began to entertain thoughts of suicide. She felt that killing herself was best thing to do to end the inferno of abuse. According to suicide.org, Over 90 percent of people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death. And the most common mental illness is depression. One of the negative life experiences that may cause depression is physical abuse (Kevin Carso). Francine thought, if she killed herself, who was going to take care of her children? Nobody could love them the way she did. She went with plan B which were schemes about how she would sneak off to the airport with her kids and go somewhere where they couldn’t be found. But she would picture her family homeless, sitting on a park bench with nowhere to go and somehow he would find her.
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them”, says Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. This quote reflects to Sarah’s journey in the novel Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, since the main character, Sarah, faces events that affect her well being, as they make her both weaker and stronger. These events causes her to lose her innocence, makes her persistent, and then eventually drives her to be pessimistic. Sarah experiences traumatic events through her journey, which leads her to change both in a positive and negative way.
"Sadly Frances had many misfortunes is her future. Her family suffered through war and loss, but she always kept her faith. While her husband was fleeing capture, soldiers destroyed her home. Instead of moving she cleared up the rubble and turned it into a hospital for homeless people."
This book is a memoir so it is all about Ashley’s life in the foster care program. Each chapter talks about the hardships she went through at all the different foster homes. Ashley was taken into foster care when she was only three years old. She was in 14 different homes in a total of nine years. She had a brother, Luke that was also in the foster care program with her. They were separated multiple times, but always ended up at the same foster home together. It was not until Ashley was adopted that they were separated for good. Ashley’s mom was in prison multiple times, she was also a drug addict. She had visitation rights, but her visitations were always supervised. At these visitations she always promised Ashley that she was going to turn her life around, and get both her and Luke back. It never happened; as a result, Ashley had a lot of trust issues and a hard time believing people actually cared for her. Ashley was adopted and had a tough first couple of years adjusting to having a family. It wasn’t until about the end of the book where she finally got used to having a real family.
The collection of articles, “The Shame of the Cities” written by Lincoln Steffens, evidently reveals the history of corruption in many American cities during the 18th and 19th century. The chapter, “Pittsburg: A City Ashamed” focuses wholly on the effect Christopher Magee had on the city of Pittsburg during the time of his ruling. With the help of William Flinn, Thomas Bigelow, and E.M. Bigelow, Chris was in complete control over the city. While some of what he was doing was very helpful toward, it is undeniable that he was the cause of Pittsburgh’s extensive corruption.
Jeannette talks about how her parents at times were ignorant at how they were parenting. For example, Jeannette states countless situations in the book where she felt excluded or neglected. There was a situation in the book where she was cooking or preparing herself hotdogs and she got her dress on fire. The flames grew on her rapidly and the injuries became severe; soon after that her mother and father expressed to her that they were little to no concerned about their daughter. In the book it states, “Mom, in an unnaturally calm voice, explained what had happened and asked if we could please have a ride to the hospital. The woman dropped her clothespins and laundry right there in the dirt and, without saying anything, ran for her car” (9-10). This just shows the mother wasn’t the least bit scared for her daughter’s life, she didn’t even panic or react the way a mother should. With that being said, we can even notice that the neighbor was more affected by the situation than that of the mother. This is the earliest stories Jeannette can recall, which is mentioned in her book, and all the stories and memories after that only go to show the neglectful lifestyle she had to endure. It is really a sad reality of this woman’s life. However, Jeannette Walls is now a successful author, and journalist in New York, is one of the few people in this world that has made a successful life from a horrible and neglectful
Firstly, Every hardship and obstacles she endured throughout her childhood helped Jeannette to become a successful adult.Jeannette’s parent were very unpredictable, her mother was self absorbed in her hobbies, and her father was an interminable alcoholic. Even though her parent neglected and gave less attention to Jeannette,
Jeannette had a very challenging and awful childhood. Jeannette is forced to be independent and take care of herself in ways most children should not. She realizes at a young age that her life is unpredictable. Early in the memoir,
Jeannette is the second child of four children. She tells her life story through the book. She starts out from her earliest memory, when she was three years old, and into her adulthood. Her actions foreshadows that she will be successful when she grows up away from her parents. Since Jeannette’s parents were often careless of their children, Jeannette had to take care of younger siblings and work to get money for food, but she still loved her parents. Eventually, she decided to leave her parents and go to New York. There she became a successful author and journalist.
Another role Frannie had was being a mother. She had a ten-year-old son, named Robert. Frannie was a devoted mother. She would try to shield her son from the abuse she was experiencing at home. Every time she would have bruises on her body she would tell Robert that she had been in an accident so that he would not fear his father. Frannie states, “I told my
Charles Dickens utilizes doubles and contrasts to enhance the plot of Dickens uses parallels in characters, social classes, and events that compliment each other to strengthen the plot. Its themes of violence in revolutionaries, resurrection, and sacrifice also help support the story.
Experiences encompassed in times of struggle can lead to a new transformative perspective of one’s relationship with self and the world. William Shakespeare’s last play “The Tempest” (1610), canvasses loss catalysing rediscovering the importance of life resulting in a greater understanding of how our flaws compromise our humanity. Prospero, the usurped Duke of Milan, shows this to be true, moving from a mindset focused on vengeance to a profound discovery of self. Similarly, in “Man’s Search for Meaning” (1946), fulfillment with discovering how we choose to cope and find meaning/purpose in life through unrelenting struggle is illustrated. The three-part non-fiction told by psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl, depicts his ordeal inside of concentration camps during the Second World War, elaborating on finding true meaning in life even under the most horrific circumstances. Frankl shares his process of discovery demonstrating his ability to overcome the most overwhelming experience leading to doorway of meaning, purpose and happiness.