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Family In I Am The Messenger

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Family is a word familiar to all, but understood by few. It is arguable that there is no factor more influential in one's development than their family. Indeed, families should not only provide a safe haven, but they should also instil morals and beliefs into their offspring. However, a negative family environment can have a detrimental effect in the mentality of an individual. For this reason, families should take appropriate measures in order to create a caring and supportive environment. What makes the roles of families even more important is that they provide the structure and foundation of today's society. In "I am the Messenger", novelist Markus Zusak illustrates the importance and influence of families on an individual's behaviour. …show more content…

Bev Kennedy throughout most of the novel serves as a hindrance, and a symbol of failure in Ed's path. However, the reason behind her displacement of anger towards her son is not known until she is confronted by him. Ed says, "'Why do you hate me so much?' Flatly, simply, she answers. 'Because you remind me of him.'" (243) Evidently Bev Kennedy is not the ideal loving wife, or mother. In the latter third of the novel, it is told that the roots of her hate towards him stems from her anger and disappointment at his father. Beverly Kennedy's husband had made promises of a better future for her, but had wasted away his life as a drunkard and left her in that mess of a town. Understandably, for this reason, she turns out to be the nagging, demanding person she is portrayed as. What other people fails to see is that she is a person with her own desires, and aspirations. she was let down by her husband results in her dysfunctional relationship with her children, mostly Ed. She had dreamt of living a better life, in a better place, but she never makes it. Hence, she takes her anger out on her husband for failing her, by mistreating her son. What frustrates her even more is that her son seems to carry on his father's legacy. This shows that she loves him more than enough to want him to have a better future than she did. Not to mention, Audrey whom Ed

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