Susan Pfeffer’s short story, “Ashes”, takes place in a girl’s, named Ashleigh, life. Her parents are divorced and she switches between them over the weekends. Her father is consider a dreamer, or a bum, by Ashleigh’s mother who is very practical and prepared for everything. Ashleigh’s, called Ashes by her father, father complements her everytime he sees her, but then uses the compliments and love to manipulate Ashes. One message the story suggest is that what one person may think is love, may be another’s form of manipulation. Ashes's father may have loved her in the beginning but that changed once he started making deals. Ashes and her father went out to a diner for a special reason. “‘I have a chance at something really big,’ he said. ‘All I need is to put together a little financing, and I’ll be set for life.’” In this line he is manipulating Ashes into thinking this, though she is not totally convinced as he has probably claimed the same thing before. Though Ashes is doubtful, she still believes him because he is her father and she loves him. …show more content…
“Dad took a booth that faced the door, and sat in a seat where he could check who was coming in. He hadn’t done that with me in a long time, and my stomach was hurting in an old familiar way.” Apparently this has happened before with her father, which means her father has probably done a deal he can’t pay back before, and that also might have been the reason for the divorce. When Ashes questioned him about it, he said he was not waiting for someone, not when he was with her. He lied to Ashes and put her in danger by coming out to the
In a restaurant, picture a young boy enjoying breakfast with his mother. Then suddenly, the child’s gesture expresses how his life was good until “a man started changing it all” (285). This passage reflects how writer, Dagoberto Gilb, in his short story, “Uncle Rock,” sets a tone of displeasure in Erick’s character as he writes a story about the emotions of a child while experiencing his mother’s attempt to find a suitable husband who can provide for her, and who can become a father to him. Erick’s quiet demeanor serves to emphasis how children may express their feelings of disapproval. By communicating through his silence or gestures, Erick shows his disapproval towards the men in a relationship with his mother as he experiences them.
In John Updike’s short story “A&P,” the reader witnesses the power of desire. Three girls walk into the store, A&P, in nothing but bikinis. They were looking for “Fancy Herring Snacks” for one of the girl’s mother. The girls were being kicked out by the manger; however, the cashier quits because he desired one of the girl’s attention and tried to be the hero. The poem “The desire of love-power” by Sri Chinmoy, illustrates that desiring something can change a person’s life for the better, or for the worse. This poem, like the short story, explores the power of desire.
Her father was a huge part of her life. She had never had a boyfriend, nor would her father have allowed it.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Cassandra Clare, author of the best-selling novel City of Bones, once wrote, “To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed”. As an author of a series of young adult books, Clare wishes to send a message to adolescent readers regarding the destruction that young, passionate love can lead to. A similar theme is explored in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, where two adolescents from feuding families fall in love with one another. When they first see each other on the night of the Capulet party, they quickly fall in love and are soon married by Romeo’s friend and mentor, Friar Lawrence. Their love, being full of passion in its quick course, faces many trials such as Romeo’s banishment from their hometown of Verona, as well as Juliet being forced to marry Paris, kinsman of the Prince. The affection they feel for one another, being all consuming, often leads them to want to sacrifice everything for each other, including their own lives. Their self-destructive, rushed love ends with their deaths, occurring just a multiple days after they first met. In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, many characters such as Friar Lawrence, Romeo, and Juliet illustrate that young, passionate love is a powerful force that leads to destruction.
In “Ashes”, Ashes demonstrates she is a round character by her willingness to help and her fear of her mom finding out. While Ashes Dad is talking about how he owes some guys money, she asks If she “Can… help” him get the money” (41). Ashes is a selfless person and always looking to help, even with her dad’s financial issues. Once Ashes father explains that she could take the money, Ashes says “What if Mom finds out” because
“That winter,it felt like every time I saw my father, the sun cast off just a little more warmth than it had day before.”It uses past tense so she must not feel that way about him after he used her for the money.Ashleigh’s mom also trusted him before because she didn't expect it “And Mom was always prepared,except for what dad did to her.”So the mom must have noticed the money was gone before the dad paid it back and he probably took the money and left or else Ashleigh wouldn't have got caught her dad would have.Also I noticed Ashes told her dad where the money was even and didn't think anything and she opened the teapot herself even “Sometimes when mom wasn't home, I’d take the lid off the teapot and stare into it, imagining what i could do with two hundred dollars.”She thought of taking it before but now she has a reason to take the money.Another thing about the mom is she used to be a dreamer like the dad and in the story Ashes says “But I was the only dream she ever believed in and once i failed her,she never let herself dream
In a modern society where good deeds and integrity are taken for granted, it is necessary for people to stand up for what is right. The short story “A & P”, written by John Updike, tells the story of Sammy and how he takes a stand for what he believes is right, only he is not given the gratitude he deserved. “Everyday Use”, written by Alice Walker, is another short story that shows how substantial it is to stand firm for one’s convictions and beliefs, especially in familial matters. Mama, the protagonist in “Everyday Use”, must make the decision of protecting her self-conscious daughter Maggie, or giving in to Dee, her other egocentric daughter who has forgotten the traditional values of their family. These two short stories indicate the importance of protecting people from the harshness of reality because not everyone is secure or aware enough to be able to stand up for themselves.
Nothing hurts more than being betrayed by a loved one, Christopher’s father has no trust in Christopher and tells him that his “Mother died 2 years ago”(22) and Christopher thinks his mother died of a heart attack. When Christopher finds out his father lied, he runs away to live with his mother and his father despritally looks for him and while looking for him realizes the importance of telling the truth. When someone betrays one’s trust, they can feel morally violated. Once Christopher finds his mother, she begins to realize how unfit her living conditions are for Christopher and brings him back to his father, bring him “[..] home in Swindon”(207) Christopher feels incredibly hurt and distressed he does not want to see his father. Whether a relationship can be repaired depends entirely on whether trust can or cannot be restored. Christopher’s father works very hard to regain his trust, he tells his son “[..] I don’t know about you, but this...this just hurts too much”, Christopher’s father is dealing with the result of being dishonest with his son and himself.
It is the first time that Lizabeth hears a man cry. She could not believe herself because her father is “a strong man who could whisk a child upon his shoulders and go singing through the house.” As the centre of the family and a hero in her heart, Lizabeth’s dad is “sobbing like the tiniest child”She discovers that her parents are not as powerful or stable as she thought they were. The feeling of powerlessness and fear surges within her as she loses the perfect relying on her dad. She says, “the world had lost its boundary lines.” the “smoldering emotions” and “fear unleashed by my father’s tears” had “combined in one great impulse toward
The poem His stillness by Sharon Olds gave her a definite understanding of the man that she called “father.” Olds grew up in an abusive family home because her dad was always known as an alcoholic. Because of her dad’s habit, created hard living environments for her and she wished that her parents never got married. Whenever liquor was in her dad’s system, he was unemotional making life for Olds hard. She never described the things that he did to her. The visit to the doctor’s office made her opened up to her dad. She saw her dad as lovely and caring family man and she never imagine him being the man that he was at the doctor’s office. He did not overreacted when he heard news; instead he was calm and accepted the news. She felt tremendously sad for her dad and from there now she started noticing the man she never knew. Olds and her dad bond grew stronger at the doctor’s office. The man she had always known for his abusive behavior turned out the most caring man in the world.
Selected out of the passage “I looked at dad and realized he had those same fantasies. Well why not. I was his daughter after all.” (Pfeffer, 3). Ashes doesn't want to lose someone she shares so much alike with. Asserted straight out of the text “The money’s still in the teapot” (Pfeffer, 4). You and i both know that Ashes trust her dad, after telling him this. I know Ashes wasn't supposed to tell anyone this information reading how she says this and that she regrets it. “I could hear my Father's car keening in the distance. ‘You’re one in a million’, it cried.” (Pfeffer, 4). Ashes dad depends on her. She can't decide rather to lose her dad's trust or her mom’s. Letting her dad down would disappoint him. The question she ponders, is this
Nonetheless, this really is a tale of compelling love between the boy and his father. The actions of the boy throughout the story indicate that he really does love his father and seems very torn between his mother expectations and his father’s light heartedness. Many adults and children know this family circumstance so well that one can easily see the characters’ identities without the author even giving the boy and his father a name. Even without other surrounding verification of their lives, the plot, characters, and narrative have meshed together quite well.
In the story “Two Kinds”, the author, Amy Tan, intends to make reader think of the meaning behind the story. She doesn’t speak out as an analyzer to illustrate what is the real problem between her and her mother. Instead, she uses her own point of view as a narrator to state what she has experienced and what she feels in her mind all along the story. She has not judged what is right or wrong based on her opinion. Instead of giving instruction of how to solve a family issue, the author chooses to write a narrative diary containing her true feeling toward events during her childhood, which offers reader not only a clear account, but insight on how the narrator feels frustrated due to failing her mother’s expectations which leads to a large conflict between the narrator and her mother.
Brush begins the story with a soothing description of the main characters, the wife and husband. The husband has a “round, self-satisfied face, with glasses on it” (Brush 1), because he is easily self-content and arrogant. His glasses emphasizes his narrow-mindedness. He appears to be kind and proper at first; subsequently, the reader discovers that he is a verbally abusive and controlling man. Katharine Brush illustrates the wife as “fading pretty,” which indicates that she is aging and her youth beauty is slowly vanishing. “Fading pretty” also shows that the wife is soft
In a flea market, a shoe box filled with photographs. This is all we have. Whose lives might be recovered, if only the box had been labelled? I found it laying in a corner of the street, near an old manor where we live, my brother and me. There were men and women neatly tucked in pressed suits and fine linen dresses. They are our family, I imagine. Nameless faces attentively listening to our stories, witnessing the cold lifeless concrete of a flea market; it’s parched landscape that otherwise looks beautiful in the orange twilight. We have more money than it can last us a lifetime, but it cannot buy us our family back. I stare enraptured as strangers scurry down their separate ways, unknown to the solace they and the nameless faces in the photographs provide me, but my brother, he hates them. A single conversation with him, and one would say he hates the face of humanity itself. “Never trust anyone,” he constantly warns. “They leave you when you need them the most.” Our parents leaving us had scarred him deeply. He does not like coming here, but I know that there is a small part of him, albeit hidden away, that craves for company. On this particular day, the sun bathes me in sunlight from behind my brother’s head making me squint up at his silhouette. My thoughts are interrupted by a loud crash of porcelain china doll falling of our stand, its pieces damaged beyond repair. Dozens of dolls lay on our stand that my brother bought from a rather expensive antique store, in a futile attempt to blend in with the rest of the commoners.