Family Relationships in the Life - Assignment Example

Family Relationships Family relationships are an important aspect in the life of each individual and society as a whole.Therefore, there is a dire need of embracing family relationships and maintaining them, as these hold many benefits for individuals and communities. The two stories, “Tito’s Goodbye” by Cristina Garcia and “Albert and Esene” by Frances Khirallah Noble illustrate and educate on just how important it is to uphold family relationships. In the story “Tito’s Goodbye” by Cristina Garcia, the author tells of the story of an immigrant, Tito Urena, who has poor relationship with his family. From Tito’s story, the theme of family relationship emerges, and one learns about the disadvantages of having poor relationship with family. The immigrant, Tito Urena, is portrayed as one that had poor relationship with his family members. He is shown as having not communicated with his family for a long time. Additionally, he was involved in a conflict with one Haydee, who was once his wife, with whom he had separated for 16 years (Spack 156). The story also shows the remarkable isolation of Tito during the time of his death, as well as after his death. A highlight of this story is where Tito suffers a heart attack that cuts his life short while in his office. At the time of his death, Tito had no one around him in his office, as he was all alone. He lived far away from his family whom he never contacted. His poor relationship with family could not allow him to call any of them before succumbing to the heart attack. Therefore, Tito died all alone. After his death, no one realized that Tito was dead. In fact, his body spent two days in the office before being noticed (Spack 159). His body remained unclaimed, and only his mistress could be traced by police. Therefore, this kind of alienation and failure to embrace family relationships made Tito live and die a lonely death. The second story, “Albert and Esene” by Frances Khirallah also bears the significant theme of family relationships. The author depicts Esene, a widow, as having good relationship with her family members and relatives. This story teaches on the advantages of embracing good relationship with family. There are different aspects in this story that are an evidence of the good relations that Esene had with her family. For instance, Esene shares jokes and a light moment with her husband’s, Albert’s, sisters that came to visit her (Spack 162). The mere fact that these two ladies, Safiyah and Amelia, visited Esene shows just how strong their relationship was. Another instance in the story that proves that Esene valued good family relationship is how she related with her late husband, Albert. Their relationship depicts love and care for one another. The couple did different things together. For instance, Albert had taught Esene how to read and write, and Esene spent the whole afternoon with Albert at his shop until the closing time. The private life of Esene and Albert also depict a good and healthy relationship between the couple. For instance, “If Albert came home early, he tucked her in bed himself tasting the lovely bourbon on her lips, slipping off her navy dress, unrolling her stockings, sliding his hands …” (Spack, 164). Therefore, the good relationship that this couple had, together with their relationship with their extended families helped Esene to find solace in the company of her family, after the death of Albert. The two stories “Tito’s Goodbye” by Cristina Garcia and “Albert and Esene” by Frances Khirallah Noblebear the theme of relationship. From these, one can learn the importance of good relationships with family, relatives, and friends. In “Tito’s Goodbye” by Cristina Garcia, Tito has been depicted as an alienated person that does not value relationships. Different scenarios in the story show how Tito disregarded relationship with his family. For instance, Tito had not seen his brothers for a whole 5 years period (Spack 161). He also did not spend time with his daughter, who lived in another city. He even missed the wedding of his daughter, yet the presence of a father is important in a girl’s wedding. Similarly, Tito had no relationship with his son. He had in fact sent him to an orphanage in another country. With regard to Haydee, his former wife, Tito had no good relationship with her, and considered her as being after his money. Finally, Tito did not visit his father; neither did he take flowers to his mother’s grave (Spack 161). This lack of relationship with family resulted in the miserable and lonely death of Tito; as no one was beside him at the time of his death, and after his death, save for his mistress, who came to identify Tito’s body at the morgue. Similarly, in the story “Albert and Esene” by Frances Khirallah Noblebear, the theme of relationships is well brought out. This story teaches on the benefits of having good relationship with family and relatives. Esene, a widow, and the main character in this story is shown as a woman that values relationships. There are different scenarios in the story that depict the theme of relationships, and Esene’s commitment to relationships. The value of Esene for relationships starts in her house. Her life with her late husband, Albert is depictive of a good relationship between a couple. Esene loved and supported her husband. In their later years, Esene would spend more time with her husband at his shop. They also shared special private moments together, which is indicative of a good relationship. Esene also welcomes the sisters of Albert after Albert’s death. They share light moments together and talk about being widowed, as they all are widows. The presence of Albert’s sisters in Esene’s house after Albert’s death shows that Albert and Esene maintained good relationship with their families; hence these would be willing to console Esene. The two stories have similarities and differences that are important. The major similarity between the two stories is the highlight of death. In both stories, one character dies. In “Albert and Esene”, Albert died, while in “Tito’s Goodbye”, Tito died. The deaths in these two stories are a major highlight, and help to contribute the theme of relationships. This is mainly basing on the events that unfold after the deaths of these characters. On the other hand, a major difference between the stories lies in how the theme has been articulated. In “Tito’s Goodbye”, Tito had poor relationship with his family members. On the other hand, Esene in “Albert and Esene”, had good relationship with family members. This difference led to Tito dying a lonely death with no one to claim his body. On the other hand, good relationship with family members helps Esene to have family join her to mourn the death of her husband. This therefore is a major contrast between these two stories. While Esene had cordial relations with her family and husband, Tito had no relationship with his family, including children and former wife. Tito did not visit his son and daughter, father, mother’s grave or other relatives. On the other hand, Esene was in a good relationship with her husband and visited their extended families together. This led to Esene having family by her side when Albert died, while Tito had no one, even his children, during and after his death. In conclusion, the two stories bear an important theme of relationships. These tell of how the main characters perceive relationships. In one story, the main character embraces family relationship and has cordial relations with her family and relatives. In the other story, Tito does not value and commit to relationships, even with his family. This has a bad outcome for Tito, as he dies miserably. On the other hand, Esene, who embraces relationships, has family by her side to console her after her husband’s death. Therefore, while Tito’s outcome teaches about the disadvantages of having no relationship with family, Esene’s outcome shows the benefits of good relationship with family. These stories actually prove that no man is an island; hence relationship with family should be fostered. Works Cited Spack, Ruth. Guidelines: A Cross Cultural Reading/Writing Text. Cambridge: Cambridge, 2007. Print. Read More