“My parents, engrossed by other matters”: Negligence and attention craving in “Basic Needs” “Basic Needs,” a short story, based on Amanda Coe’s British short story from 2000. Basic Needs is dealing with a problem, negligence, which is increasing as we are evolving. This problem has been evolving since the secondary socializa-tion has started. Parents depend on the institutions and think that it is the insti-tutions that are responsible for raising their kids. The story takes place in United Kingdom in a middle-class society, where there in a two story house lives a family of four. The family does not seem poor; they are able to afford their children with pocket money “We’ve always given you pocket money.”(ll. 23-24) It seems like the parents are not much home and not neither that they are interested in …show more content…
The mother also seems scared of what the father could do to Michelle, so she says to Michelle; “We won’t tell your dad about this,”(l.92). No matter what it looks like it’s the mother’s decision to get a divorce, but the dad also have the opportunity to save the relationship, which he declined. “The tea had gone cold. I gently asked him if he wanted another cup. He declined, as embarrassed as me.” (ll. 128-129). The relationship has gone so far now and the parents seem so different, that there’s no way it can be good again. I think the theme in the text is family problems or negligence. Because of all the problems the parents end up getting separated, this is something we see more often nowadays, since the women now is able to get a job and make their own money. The title “Basic Needs” refers to Michelle. Michelle is craving for attention, which for her and everyone else is a basic need. The parents are engrossed by other matters and Michelle is trying to get their attention. And since she cannot get is properly she end up getting it in a bad
More recently than ever, the treatment and the representation of the disabled has become an important topic of discussion, with many disabled persons speaking out on the stereotypes of disability and lack of proper portrayal in the media. In her essay “Disability,” author Nancy Mairs describes her life as a woman living with multiple sclerosis, and she examens the lack of accurate portrayal of disability, especially in the media. Similarly, Andre Dubus adds to Mairs’ argument in his essay “Why the Able-Bodied Still Don’t Get It” by elaborating on how his life changed after becoming disabled, an experience that allowed him to understand why the disabled are still stereotyped and how this causes the abled-bodied to not fully understand what it’s
Certain parts of their lives the children should have been temporarily removed from their home, On the other hand sometimes there are as well good times for example on page 64 the matter of teaches not to spoil undomesticated animals that look as if they need assistance or help. The parents at this point are indirectly showing and explaining how important it is to be independent and to not depend on others frequently when certain things do not go the way they want them to. The parents were talking about the wildlife around their home, but also referring to the kids as they grow up and move out of the
A person’s fundamental beliefs and attitudes can be greatly influenced by the people in their lives. As an illustration, the presence of parents in a child 's life can influence them greatly. Parenting goes far beyond the care of the child, as parents also have a significant influence on the child’s personality, emotional development, and behavioral habits. Like in Karen Thompson Walker dystopian novel The Age of Miracles, the protagonist 's parents also have a crucial impact on her self-discovery. The novel is an inventive story, combining classic coming-of-age themes with the horror of a natural disaster of apocalyptic proportions.
But, as she grew older, she realized that they weren’t people that should be admired. Her father was never home, drunk, and wasting their money gambling, while her mother was either crying on the sofa or trying to fulfill her life long dream of becoming
There are women all around the world who are being continually treated as objects, and the majority of them are being forced to live lives that aren’t their own, lives that were devised for them. Elizabeth, a woman in the short story, “The Leaving” by Budge Wilson, was treated her entire life like a maid; she even began to believe that her only purpose was to wait on her family and get the daily chores done. Not once in her entire life was she ever thanked for the hours of labor she completed from day to day in order to benefit her family. On the other hand, Samia from the short story, “Another Evening at the Club” by Alifa Rifaat, was forced to go along with an arranged marriage, the man she married being wealthy and from a well-known, high-reputation family. However, during this marriage, Samia makes a mistake by accusing an innocent girl of something that Samia later realizes she did herself.
This enforced optimistic ideology manipulates her children’s perceptions of their lives which takes any accountability for their misfortunes away from her. She chooses to neglect her children but enlightens it to be a generous gesture because “suffering when you’re young is good for you… It immunized your body and soul” (28). She influences her children to be accepting of their misfortunes so she may restrict the necessity of providing care for her children. The children are used to being deprived of simple needs such as food and health care so they do not mention to their parents when their difficulties have increased.
This is also evident as one of the younger son is covering their face as they approach the house. Their house is also small and looks like it is in disrepair with holes in the wall. The ground also like sand signifying this was once a fertile farmland that eroded because of extensive use of farming that make the land infertile. The family most likely stay here, even though they were living in poverty, because it was most likely their land they own and did not want to leave it. Another reason could be that even if they
The dramatic transformation represents their self-sufficient attitude and strong determined attitude they enforced on their children, yet were unable to follow themselves. “That was why we had to find gold. To get Mom a new wedding ring. That and so we could build the Glass Castle” (Walls 31).
The tone is clear cut and to the point. Basically the writer is showing that in this life period, a “deadbeat dad” and a single parent are normal. It sort of depressing to think about, how children have to grow up without a mom or without a dad, how the parents have to work so hard for money just to try to support their children. Since the writer is lacking feeling towards the parents, maybe one can conclude they are the ones to blame. Even though the author’s tone is dull and harsh, one can not speak lenient when the issue is a child’s life.
People often say that your childhood is the most important part of your life, and it is the part of one’s life that affects them the most. In Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons, Ellen is forced to become independent as a result of a challenging childhood, that also affects her view of others and herself. Her father 's actions had a large impact on Ellen’s quickly developing independence, while the loss of her mother and grandmother exposed her to people who influenced the way she viewed others and herself. Ellen displayed independence when she was given the responsibility of tasks her father began to abandon.
Children talk about how their parents abandoned them and left them behind. For instance, Enrique states, “I wouldn’t be this way if I had two parents” (198).Enrique tells his mother that he acts this way because both of his parents were never in his life. Enrique acts out because his parents are not in his life . He says that if his parents were in his life, then he would of never choose to sniff glue or join a gang before he reconnected with his mother. Also, Enrique says to his mother that “You long ago lost the right to tell me what to do” (198).
There’s no typical family as nuclear families as in the past and not everyone lives in a multigenerational household. Same-sex families are also on the rise as sexual ambiguity is undergoing its own wave of acceptance in all political, social, and economic spheres. With the absence of the parents’ presence in the home due to an inability effectively balance work and home life, children could develop an emotional void/absence. Good communicative dialogue between children and their parents where the adults describe their work situation as it relates to the home to create resilient children, could possibly benefit the household.
The first house is like the origin of the beginning of the family. It holds their story In brief, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker contains literary elements that draws back to a heritage. Walker wrote this short story to explain how each character saw their heritage. Some are proud, awed, but others are ashamed of their
In a family there are many different roles; there's the role of the mother, the father, the child, the grandparents, then there’s the brothers and sisters. Every single one of those roles has different responsibilities. The father, according to most of society, is supposed to be the breadwinner for the family. However, nowadays the mother is actually quite capable of being the breadwinner just as much of as the father. As they work to show their children what it is to be an adult they are teaching them as well on how to be an active member of society.
The article focuses on three main points, how parents and children rely on maids , how parents don’t spend time with their children and how badly maids are treated . From the title of the article "First Blame the Parents " I expected the article to be about the relationship between parents and children and how children are affected by their parents actions and words however the author gives no details about