a look through the theme of parent-child relationships
Growing up, everyone has different experiences with their parents. Unfortunately, it is not always good and can differ from each personal point of view. During the month of February, I was assigned many types of readings following the theme of parent-child relationships where I was able to read multiple types of family situations. Although I had already entered with the knowledge that not everyone has the same family situation, it was much more interesting to see these types of writings that was formed from the authors’ personal experience. Not only were many of these works something from their youth, which usually concluded with a regretful ending. There was also a few works that weren’t about being a child themselves, but raising a child, their own personal parental experience. As a result, many of these works had different backgrounds but overall carried the same vibe. For the stories that were based on childhood, it usually ended with a regretful conclusion. A longing that they wished they had noticed something sooner, but how they were now grateful. Whereas the parent stories were of a more loving aspect, it had more of a comforting feel. Overall this theme was a more personal vibe, that carried regret, sorrow, love, abuse, and gratefulness. I would recommend when reading into any work of this theme to be open-minded because nobody has the same relationship.
Fortunately, during this theme, I was assigned many different types of works such as stories, poems, and even the play Oedipus. I definitely had some favorites that I really connected to, that I am absolutely dying to tell. The first was “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, this is a story written from the daughter’s experience with her mother who forced her into trying many things so she can succeed. This story had many elements with it, such as the daughter wanting to make her own decisions for her life, and of course ending with guilt. I would recommend looking into this story just because of how detailed it is, and the overall vibe it carries. I can say this was my favorite read throughout all of the works just due to the fact that I relate to it the most. My father would be an accurate representation of the mother in the story which really drew me into it. I don’t want to spoil the ending in any way, but I now know due to this story that everything is always with your best interest in mind although it may not seem like it at the time. Next was the play Oedipus, and oh dear that was definitely a ride. Unlike the other story, this one did not draw me with a connection, but more of a respect for the piece because I hope no one would want a family relationship like this. This play attracted me due it just being polar opposites to any of the other works. I fully recommend the play because of how much of a mind twister it is, with such a clever ending. If you want to read into a much more darker family relationship story I recommend to you, the classic, Oedipus.
While reading a lot of works into this theme I began to compare my own family situation. When I soon noticed that no story perfectly aligned with mine. To begin, I grew up with my young parents at my grandmother’s house for a big chunk of my life. When my parents were finally stable enough we moved out, there was definitely ups and downs to this move. My mother for as long as I can remember would suffer through the gruesome hours of the graveyard shift where I wouldn’t see her when I came home and didn’t see her till I woke up the next morning for school. Whereas my father went back to school and would stress over grades to keep up his 4.0 GPA. So while reading all of these works I genuinely felt a connection to almost every story and poem (fortunately not the play Oedipus) but no story that I was assigned perfectly matched mine. Therefore this is a very significant reminder, that no matter how many works you read in this theme, you will not find any story exactly the same as your own. (word count: 767)
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