Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Details

  • 11 Pages
  • 2822 Words

Dysfunctional Families

Family dysfunction typically characterizes family relations to one degree or another in most families. However, in David Adams RichardsÆ (1997) Nights Below Station Street and Ann-Marie MacDonaldÆs (2002) Fall On Your Knees, if it werenÆt for family dysfunction the families depicted would not function at all. Richards provides a tale of the WalshÆs, a working-class family from the wrong side of the tracks in a small mill town in New Brunswick. Joe Walsh, an alcoholic, lives with his quietly suffering wife Rita, his rebellious teenage daughter Adele, and his youngest daughter Milly. The local society of Miramichi, a mill town, provides a host of fringe characters, working class men and women whose struggles belie a certain measure of nobility.

In MacDonaldÆs much more epic and sweeping tale of the Piper family, we are treated to the story of James Pipe, a Scots-English piano tuner and his child Lebanese bride, Materia Mahmoud. The story encompasses the trials and tribulations of the PiperÆs and their four daughters, Kathleen, Frances, Mercedes, and Lily. Set mainly in Cape Breton against the backdrop of World War I, the Depression, the Harlem jazz scene and the aftermath of World War II, the story depicts race relations, ethnic traditions, and regional culture.

This analysis will discuss the characters and family relations of Nights Below Station Street and Fall On Your Knees in order to demonstrate the significant levels of dysfunction that plague both families in their struggles to endure. However, despite both families experiencing high levels of dysfunction, the WalshÆs are able to retain redemption through love whereas the PiperÆs succumb to attrition and cannot maintain redemption.

In both novels family dysfunction takes center stage, whether it is the alcoholism of Joe Walsh or his AdeleÆs pregnancy or the incestuous actions of James Piper or his wifeÆs suicide. From physical and verbal abuse to sex...

Page 1 of 11 Next >

More on Dysfunctional Families...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Dysfunctional Families. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:56, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1709731.html