Family relationships describe the interactions and associations of two or more individuals who share a common relation. A family presents to us challenges and happiness, stress management, behavior control and understanding well our emotions to communicate effectively with the most significant individuals in our lives (Salmon & Shackelford, 1). In our lives we are required to keep a good relationship with our family members and ensuring that the means of communication are always kept open.
According to the story Everyday Use by A. Walker, the mother who is the narrator of the story talks about her two daughters’ divergent notions about their personalities and lineage (Walker, 26). The relationship between the two daughters is conflicting in that from the story, the mother tells how Dee visits from college conflicting with Maggie over the ownership of heirloom quilts (Walker, 24). It is a first day visit from college and they are already in a conflict. This indicates that the relationship between the two sisters is not good basing on good family communication, and emotion control. The relationship between the two girls is revealed to be full of hatred. Maggie is a shy girl and reputes her sister, Dee with much jealousy and awe (Walker, 37).
The characters of the story “Everyday Use” demonstrate a kind of conflicting thoughts on their heritage and personality. Dee brings tension to her family because of the education she acquired from outside (Walker, 27). Within the particular family, Dee is seen as being proud and also snubbing her heritage. This is demonstrated when Dee decided to have a butter churn at dinner showing that she esteems her tradition on the reason that it was carved from a tree they used to have by her uncle, but Dee wants the butter churn for a wrong motive, using it for decoration (Walker, 43).
The writer presents both sisters on their own traits. Breaking from the family relationship also is when Dee, decides to change her name, from Dee to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo (Walker, 78). This is a dishonor of her culture on the reason that “Dee” belongs to her family and can also be drawn back several generations. Their mother though is caring for her two daughters. She demonstrates concern of her two daughters in the wake of their conflicts.
Maggie is presented as a humble and shy girl. She lacks most of her sister’s advantages in the family. But she carries on her family’s traditions and connects with other family aspects by showing true appreciation of things left behind by Grandma Dee. Her hobbling style and practice of clinging in places is a presentation of a girl of different type (Walker, 104). Maggie’s mother also demonstrated an ability to hide her worthy molding a mocking look on the dazzling Dee. Walker demonstrates how education has torn apart the relationship within the members of Mrs. Johnson family. The writer expresses how each character brings out and informs on their outer character. The writer also tries to bring out how education had prejudiced ideas of traditions.
In the Story, “Where are you going where have you been” by Joyce C. Oates, Connie is demonstrated to be much concerned with her looks (Oates & Showalter, 25). Her mother criticizes and keeps nagging her for admiring herself but Connie ignores. The writer brings out June, Connie’s older sister as being neat and responsible. The writer also presents the family father as hardworking but rarely shares a talk with his daughters. Connie’s character is much of concerns the family relationship (Oates & Showalter, 29). She always goes out to meet boys while her sister hangs out with her girlfriend which is a contrasting trait between the two sisters.
Connie is in continuous misunderstanding with her family in that she is fanatical with her looks, keeps flirting with boys whenever she goes out and explores her sexuality. From the story, she despises her older sister, June who is described as frumpy (Oates & Showalter, 35). She is proud that men and boys find her attractive then goes a step further to develop a specific style of walking and dressing in order to look sexually appealing but although the her actions and manners are temporary. Her behavior at home is different from how she behaves when she is away from home, hiding her sexuality when at home (Oates & Showalter, 41).
The efforts by Connie have to make herself sexually appealing in search of independence is the major source of arguments with her family. Her mother and sister contain the one lifestyle she is really aware of. She is at the middle of her adolescent. She appears rebellious, argues with her sister and mother and ignores her family relationship in favor of hanging out with boys at the local eatery (Oates & Showalter, 68). She brings conflicts with her family by trying to appear older and mature more than she is. Connie sees her mother and sister as subjects who keep frustrating her life and even wished that she and her mother could have been dead.
According to Oates, June’s character is quite different from that of Connie’s (Oates & Showalter, 76). She is at the age of twenty-four years, weighty, quite dutiful, and good-natured and still living with her parents. The writer brings out June’s good character by the fact that she her parents often praise her because of her maturity; she keeps money and assists her parents. She upholds good family relationship by being obedient to her parents and always doing her tasks without complaints. The writer brings out June as responsible and careful of the kind of friends she hangs out with when she goes out (Oates & Showalter, 91).
Oates presents Connie’s mother as a recurring cause of frustration for Connie. The family relationship between Connie and her mother is characterized by much divergences and constant arguing about everything. But according to the story, Connie’s mother jealousies Connie’s youth and good looks which of course herself had already lost because of her age. We get to learn that at the end of the story, Connie gets to cry out for her mother when she is seemingly confronted by Arnold (Oates & Showalter, 105).
The writer presents Connie’s father as always away from home and even never bothered to have a talk with her daughter (Oates & Showalter, 27). In the family relationship context, the father portrays an example of poor communication with his family and even did not get to understand the needs of her daughters. This might have prompted Connie to sneak with her friends and keeping her fantasizing about boys. Therefore, according to the story, the father is portrays a kind of weakness on his side which is essential to keep the family bond together and eliminate any kind of indiscipline on his daughters.
The story, “A good man is hard to find,” by Flannery O’Connor brings the obscure meaning of “Good Man” as used in the story. The grandmother makes use of the word “good” arbitrarily partially hiding the explanation of a “good man” and as story continues, the label misses its significance (O’Connor & Asals, 26). The grandmother in the story applies the label “A good man” in several occasions. But in most cases the meaning of “good” within the sense includes unwariness, sightless faith and ill judgment and none of this related to “good”.
O’Connor describes the grandmother as often speaking of herself as a “lady”. She is an annoying woman living with her son and his family (O’Connor & Asals, 39). The grandmother’s suggestion of going to see an old house she recalls leads to a car mishap and the death of members of the group. Within the family, she considers herself ethically powerful to others by benefit of her actually a “lady” and she at will and often judges others. She is boastful of her conscience as a leading force in her life, for instance she tells Bailey that she won’t be allowed by her conscience and lead the children in the direction as Misfit (O’Connor & Asals, 46). In this particular case, a poor family relationship is demonstrated when the grandmother criticizes Bailey’s wife. She compares her face to a cabbage and condemns her for not been in a place letting the children to “be abroad”.
Bailey is an exhausted crown of the family. According to the writer, Bailey appears to care about her mother but her annoying character sometimes kept irritates him. According to the story, Bailey accepts her mother’s wish to go to the old plantation house that she recalls on the reason that his children are driving him wild (O’Connor & Asals, 72). Bailey’s poor relationship with her mother is also brought about when he fails to make her mother quiet and halt her from infuriating the criminals, but he ends up being killed by Misfit.
Bailey’s children John Wesley and June star were young and they seem to give into their grandmother’s demands. The writer portrays them as difficult and self-interested. For instance, John Wesley supported their grandmother’s idea of visiting the house just because their grandmother had said that it had an undisclosed panel (O’Connor & Asals, 98). June Star on the other hand conveys her mind loudly and makes cutting remarks on those near her. The two children ill-mannered character seemingly appears to result from absence of parental punishment. Bailey’s wife is a woman who is killed by Misfit after fracturing her shoulder during the car accident (O’Connor & Asals, 132).
The writer portrays the grandmother as a liar who through the entire story demonstrates a kind of moral weakness which is opposite of what she is expected to be. In some instances, she lies to her grandchildren, influences her son and brags about the unimportance of the present and the advantage of the past. She also utters annoying words to Bailey’s wife. She breaks apart the moral family relationship needed in a family to prosper.
Work cited.
Salmon A. Catherine & Shackelford K. Todd. Family relationships: An evolutionary perspective.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2007. Print.
Walker Alice. Everyday Use. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. 1994. Print.
Oates J. Carol & Showalter Elaine. Where are you going, where have you been. New Brunswick,
N.J: Rutgers University Press. 1994. Print.
O’Connor, Flannery. A good man is hard to find. Ed. Asals Frederick. New Brunswick, N.J:
Rutgers University Press. 1994. Print.
