Parent-Child Relationship Depicted in Literary Works - Essay Example

?Rachelle Flowers Forbes ENC 1102.11M 4/12/11 Parent-Child Relationship Depicted in Literary Works The depiction of parent-child relationship is a common theme often described in different types of literary works from different standpoints. The parent-child relationship is remarkably deep, sensitive as well as a complex issue that remains the center of attention of the writers. There have been several pieces of literature constructed focusing upon the theme of parent-child relationship while involving different social phenomenon like social inequality, poverty, family breakups and culture. The short story “Everyday Use”, penned by Alice Walker in 1973, also describes the relationship between a mother and her daughters in the context of preservation of the cultural heritage. Walker describes the relationship of mother with the daughter that gradually upturned when the mother begins to understand and recognize the thoughts of her daughters, regarding the importance of cultural values. The same theme of parent-child relationship is described in several other narratives including short stories and poems like Tillie Olsen’s short story “I Stand Here Ironing” and Ben Johnson’s poems “On My First Son” and “On My First Daughter”. The authors of these work pieces have discussed the intricate relationship of parent and their children in quite different ways, and shows depth and potential involvedness within parent-child relationships. In “I Stand Here Ironing”, Olsen depicts a mother worried about the thinking style of her child whereas “Everyday Use” tells about the mother that is happy after realizing that her daughter possesses some true feelings and thinking in her heart regarding the importance of cultural heritage. The poems of Ben Johnsons also talks about the parent-child relationship but in a different manner as these are written to depict the sorrow of the parents on the death of their children. The essay describes these literary works to explain the variation in the depiction of a common theme of parent-child relationship. It is unveiled that the parent-child relationship is commonly used as the central theme in various narratives; however, the topic is so deep and multifaceted that the writers have described this theme in distinct styles. It is also unveiled that regardless of children age, position and social conditions the parents always have a deep love, affection and concern for their children shown these narratives in different styles. The short story “Everyday Use” depicts the intricate relationship between mother and her two daughters. There was disagreement among them over the issue of preservation of cultural heritage that ultimately affected their relationships. The mother and both the daughters understand the value for traditions; however, their perspectives about the treatment of the traditional things were different from one another. The story is written in the context of political and social transformation when African Americans were struggling to preserve their cultural values and identities (Bates, p154). The family described in the story had several things that remind them of their African culture roots, while the family members regard these things as their cultural heritage. However, the standpoint of mother and both daughters were different from each other because they view the traditions and cultural heritage in different ways. The mother earlier thought that her alder daughter Dee has the sense of appreciation for the traditional treasures, and that she understands the values of cultural heritage. The younger daughter, Maggie, seems quite insensible to her mother because she thinks Maggie gives no value to the traditional things and just regards those as items of everyday use. The relationship of the mother grew differently with both daughters on the basis of the opinions she held for them. The mother believes that the preservation and protection of cultural heritage shows that one should have value for the memories of their ancestors, so they should keep the old things safely with them as a reminder of their history. Dee also expressed her opinions in favour of keeping the traditional things due to which the mother feels particularly close to her. Whereas, Maggie expressed her opinion that memories are not contingent to the presence of some objects or things, but that one should give practical value for those traditions. Dee expressed superficial views about tradition and cultures and she also show her interest in keeping the old things with her as a symbol of African heritage. She also changed her name and adopted a new name Wangero to relate herself more close to the African traditions. She said, “I couldn’t stand it anymore, being named after the people that oppress me” (Walker, 412). Moreover, she adopts the traditional African dressing style to show her connection with African traditions. The mother seems impressed with her acts, and she likes the confidence of Dee’s personality. Moreover, she also likes that Dee has a keen appreciation for the traditional symbols. However, when Dee asks her mother to take the old things with her, the mother realized that Dee just wanted to keep these things with her as a status and social symbol without attaining knowledge about their backgrounds. She realizes that Dee is not interested in knowing about the history of her ancestors, but she just wants the things to expose her sense of appreciation for traditions, and she has no real interest and knowledge about the history and culture of the ancestors. From this point, the feelings for Mother began to change for Dee. Gradually, she is convinced to think like Maggie, as she realizes that her younger daughter has genuine respect and value for the traditions. In the end, she decided that the old cultural objects of their family, like the traditional quilts, will remain with Maggie because she truly loves history and culture of the family rather exposing it. The mother appreciated Maggie’s interest in cultural history and recognized the strong and true thoughts behind her nervous and less confident personality. In this way, the story ends with a message that the traditions and cultural heritage remain alive within the hearts and attitudes of the people even if they are not visible in tangible forms. The relationships of the mother with her two daughters also changed on the basis of her judgement about their sense of appreciation for traditions, and she developed a positive and harmonizing attitude for her younger daughter Maggie. Walker has sensitively described the changing feelings of a mother towards her daughter. The story is an impressive narrative that tells how parents feel about the personalities and the thinking of their children, and develop an opinion about them through the understanding of their behaviors and thoughts. The mothers especially feel more close with the daughters and remain more conscious about the thoughts and well being of their daughters. Another short story, “I Stand Here Ironing” written by Tillie Olsen, also tells about the concerns of a mother regarding the thinking style of her daughter. The family shown in the story was poor, and the mother has to work harder to manage their upkeep. The mother remembers the time of her first child’s birth “We were poor and could not afford for her the soil of easy growth” (Olsen, 21). Her daughter Emily was sent away from home to the convalescent home because her mother was working and had no time to take care of her. The mother often thinks about the childhood of her daughter and feel her very close to her heart even when she was away from her in the convalescent home. Emily’s mother recalls her memory, “She was a beautiful baby. She loved motion, loved light, loved colour and music and textures. She would lie on the floor in her blue overalls patting the surface so hard in ecstasy her hands and feet would blur” (Olsen, 43). The loving mother was lost in the memories of the old days while she was waiting disparately to see her daughter returning home after long time. When the daughter came home, she expressed her opinions about her carelessness for the upcoming exams, after which the mother became extremely worried. Emily tells that she believes everyone is going to die in coming days because the atom bombs will destroy everything. Thus, there is no need to care about the things for the coming days. The thought expressed by Emily was unexpected for her mother and she was not happy to know that her daughter has developed such feelings and perceptions about the world. Thought the mother was extremely surprised and disappointed by the thinking style of her daughter but rather going for discussion or disagreement with her, she continues her imaginary conversation with an unknown person without letting her daughter know that she is not satisfied with her thinking style. The mother and daughter didn’t enter conflict, but the mother narrated her concerns and worries about the daughter’s thinking just like the mother in “Everyday Use” has for her daughters. The parent-child relationships are not only described from the standpoint of conflict and worries of the parents with the children, but there is another aspect of parent and child relationship that is impressively described in Ben Johnson’s poems “On My First Son” and “On My First Daughter”. Both of these poems express deep emotional distress and feelings of a father on the loss of the love ones. “On my first son” is written like a father himself talks about his feelings on the death of his son. On the other hand “on my first daughter” is written from a third person side that describes the emotions of the parents on the death of their daughter. The poems impressively depict the profound grievance experienced by the parent on the death of his children. Ben Johnson wrote these poems to illustrate the sorrow and sadness that the parent experiences when his beloved children are departed for ever from him (Scodel and Joshua, p235). When his son passed away at the age of seven, he wrote the first poem, “On My First Son”, to express his sorrow and intense pain and later he wrote the poem “On My First Daughter” when he lost his daughter at the age of just six months. The poem “On My First Son” clearly indicates that it is an expression of grief and bereavement that a father experienced on the death of his son. Similarly, “On My First Daughter” is the expressive account of the feelings of parents on the death of their daughter. “On My First Son” is written as though a father, himself, talks about his feelings on the death of his son. He talks to himself and speaks out his own feelings and emotions that he faced after the death of his son. On the other hand, “On My First Daughter” is narrated by a third person that describes the emotions of the parents when they lost their little daughter (Cain, p163). In this poem, the poet also expressed the feelings of the mother on the death of her daughter and talks about the sorrow of both the father and mother while describing their feelings from the perspective of a third person. Johnson was extremely anguished on the death of his children and he expresses his anguish and sadness in these poems to show that it is not easy for the parents to overcome their sorrow and distress after losing their children. These poems also focus upon the relationship of parent and children and depict the strong affection and love that the parents feel for their children and want to see their children close to them. The analysis of the above described narratives unveils that the parent-child relationship is a popular theme focused on the literature, and there are several narrative accounts constructed focusing upon the relationship of parents and children with different perspectives. It is also found that the relationship of parents and children is such a deep and vast issue that could be discussed from so many prospects. The analysis also unveils that the parents always worry about their children regardless of their ages. No matter the children live along with the parents or at any faraway place the parents always think about them and always remain concerned about the thoughts, philosophies and perceptions that their children hold about the world and different objects. Read More