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Families in society
Role of family in society essay
The importance of family in society
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Research Paper
In every walk of life, people come face to face with suffering and difficulties. A person might suffer quietly by themselves, while the other is surrounded by the loving support of family and friends. When faced with challenges, many people seek to prove their strength by concealing their suffering. However, one can only carry so much pain and suffering on their own shoulders. Throughout society, these situations often appear in a person’s own life, and the lives of their family and friends. While this theme is visible in society, it is also evident throughout many works of literature. Within Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, in the midst of difficult situations, gaining strength and support from family, friends, and religion, helps one to defeat challenges in life more efficiently than leaning on their own strength.
Regardless of the distance between a vast majority of families, they come together to comfort one another in difficult times. A great example of this statement is the support Okonkwo, the main character within Things Fall Apart, who is proud and stubborn, received from his family. During his seven year exile, “Okonkwo was well received by his mother’s kinsmen in Mbanta” (Achebe 129). Without help from his family, Okonkwo would have a hard time supporting and caring for his family. Okonkwo comes to realize that “family bonds are a link to our beginning and a guide to our future” during his time with his mother’s family (D. Kathy). When one’s family backs them up, and encourages them to reach for their goals, it increases their likelihood of succeeding and having a brighter future. The relationship a person has with their family determines the strength and confidenc...
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.... Donna Rosenberg. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2004. 142-202. Print.
Kim, Brian. "Don't Fall Into The Trap of Solely Relying on Yourself." The Definitive Guide to Self Improvement. Brian Kim, 5 May 2008. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. .
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Nauert, Rick, Dr. "Family Support Helps Kids Manage Stress." Weblog post. Psychcentral.com. Psych Central, 08 Feb. 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
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... children. Her children do not fully understand nor do they appreciate their mother as much as they should, because as hard as life was for them, Nnu Ego is the reason they are alive. On the other side of the spectrum is Okonkwo, the main character from Things Fall Apart. He is not the type of father who is very caring of his children. In fact, Okonkwo’s only worry for them is that they live up to his expectations. Okonkwo’s children try to please their father but a man of such impossible and illogical standards can never be satisfied. Whether a relationship between parents and children is one of love, struggle, or expectation, the truth remains that no bond is ever perfect.
To truly understand a culture and any person within it, one must first understand the family dynamics present. This understanding becomes exceedingly important when one is trying to understand a culture that is starkly different from his own. However, because of human nature, there are relationships that are common to all cultures, though the dynamics of these relationships may be different. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s extreme cultural adherence creates very distinct family dynamics as evidenced by the father-son and husband-wife relationships in the novel. Though his relationships are distinct, aspects of them are still present in today’s society.
Happiness through Self-Realization In Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, we encounter the young and beautiful Nora on Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer is a playful and affectionate young woman full of life and zeal. As the play progresses, we learn that Nora is not just a “silly girl” (Ibsen) as Torvald refers to her. She learns of the business world related to debt that she acquired by taking out a loan in order to save her beloved Torvald's life.
Things Fall Apart is an attention-grabbing novel full of violence, aggression, and oppression. Its main protagonist Okonkwo, on the surface appears to be a true tribesman, and a revered leader with qualities that far surpassed many among his clan. However, the physical and psychological qualities of Oknokwos’ character mirrored an individual who was nothing short of a “king like” ruler and conqueror. Okonkwo traits of being a self-seeking, abusive, and cold-hearted individual made him a man that preys on the weak and young, and people in general who falls outside of his definition of a man. Okonkwo character lacks many characteristics that represent real strength, discipleship, and bravery as his life came to a disappointing demise reflective of the weakness he spent his whole life avoiding.
The literary work, A Doll’s House, was written by Henrik Ibsen and has been a historical work of literature since the late 1800’s. There are many themes through out the story that impose the different ideals of the 1870’s. Many of the characters reflect the time period through the positions they hold, the activities they do, as well as how they behave and act. Torvald Helmer and his wife Nora traditionally represent the upper-middle class in the way they present themselves, what types of activities they engage in, as well as what they do as an everyday task.
In the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the author portrayed an indigenous African tribesman named Okonkwo of his adversary to be one with his Nnative culture. Through the use of a direct representation, character’s point of view, and characterization, the author captures the effects of cultural aspects in one’s moral choice within society. Through the use of a direct representation, the author conveys Okonkwo’s obedience to obedient characteristic of his the Native Culture towards his son. In chapter four, page 33 the author writes, “I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan.
The enforcement of specific gender roles by societal standards in 19th century married life proved to be suffocating. Women were objects to perform those duties for which their gender was thought to have been created: to remain complacent, readily accept any chore and complete it “gracefully” (Ibsen 213). Contrarily, men were the absolute monarchs over their respective homes and all that dwelled within. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation through her familial role, the consistent patronization of her husband and her own assumed subordinance. Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate husband, Torvald. Nora parades the façade of being naïve and frivolous, deteriorating her character from being a seemingly ignorant child-wife to a desperate woman in order to preserve her illusion of the security of home and ironically her own sanity. A Doll’s House ‘s depiction of the entrapment of the average 19th century housewife and the societal pressures placed upon her displays a woman’s gradual descent into madness. Ibsen illustrates this descent through Torvald’s progressive infantilization of Nora and the pressure on Nora to adhere to societal norms. Nora is a woman pressured by 19th century societal standards and their oppressive nature result in the gradual degradation of her character that destroys all semblances of family and identity.Nora’s role in her family is initially portrayed as being background, often “laughing quietly and happily to herself” (Ibsen 148) because of her isolation in not only space, but also person. Ibsen’s character rarely ventures from the main set of the drawi...
Throughout time, parents have been the ones that make their children the people they grow up to be. Everything from a parent’s presence to their attitude shapes the way the person their child develops and becomes. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Unoka’s laziness and status as the village beggar shape Okonkwo into be a harsh, cruel, hardworking man. Okonkwo grows up ashamed of his father, Unoka, which shapes Okonkwo to want to be the opposite. Okonkwo grows up in a family that “barely had enough to eat”, with a father that people “laughed at” (5).
A Doll 's house is one of the modern works that Henrik Ibsen wrote. He was called the father of modern drama .He was famous for writing plays that related to real life. A Doll 's House is a three-act play that discusses the marriage in the 19th century. It is a well-made play that used the first act as an exposition. The extract that will be analyzed in the following paragraphs is a dialogue between Nora and the nurse that takes care of her children. This extract shows how she was afraid not only of Krogstad blackmail, but also of Torvald 's point of view about those who committed any mistake. Torvald says that the mothers who tell lies should not bring up children as they are not honest . Nora is also lying to her family and to Torvald. So she is afraid because she thinks she maybe 'poisoning ' her own children. The analysis of this extract will be about of Nora 's character, the theme, and the language in A Doll 's House.
Love in literature can be deceiving; severely blinding even the best of moral judgement. Memories are slurred into massive orgies of embellished happiness. Excruciating pain is condoned through the idea that tolerance is a sacrifice for “love”, whilst creating obstinate aspirations that prove to be delusional. There is this existing normality of grief to be associated with the act of “altruism” or “compassion”, however, when the vision of this so-called “love” is purloined, the only consolation left is a state of torment. Written moralities are forced to endure a slur of emotions that would utterly destroy the soul of a person. However, these stages of Grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, are essential to finding
Sometimes, breaking the law can cause chaos. In A Doll’s House, Nora is facing chaos after trying to forge Torvald’s signature. “MRS. LINDE. [Throws down the dress on the sofa.] What's the matter? You look quite distracted. NORA. Come here. Do you see that letter? There, see- through the glass of the letter-box. MRS. LINDE. Yes, yes, I see it. NORA. That letter is from Krogstad- MRS. LINDE. Nora- it was Krogstad who lent you the money? NORA. Yes; and now Torvald will know everything. MRS. LINDE. Believe me, Nora, it's the best thing for both of you. NORA. You don't know all yet. I have forged a name- ”(Ibsen 103). Nora is in chaos because she knows that she broke the law by forging Torvald’s name and now she’s about to face the punishment from
What if a person’s relationship with his father determined if he lived or died, or if he would ever see his mother or siblings again? For the children of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart it did. Things Fall Apart takes place in Nigeria in the early nineteenth century. The novel focuses on the life of Okonkwo, a man famous for winning a wrestling match against the greatest wrestler in all the local villages, when he was just eighteen years old. Okonkwo’s family consisted of his three wives and ten children, they lived in a village called Umuofia. Okonkwo didn’t have very good relationships with most of his children, and most people in general. Okonkwo had different relationships with all of his children because they were all individuals, their relationships with their father constructed all of their futures in diverse ways.
The character of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was driven by fear, a fear of change and losing his self-worth. He needed the village of Umuofia, his home, to remain untouched by time and progress because its system and structure were the measures by which he assigned worth and meaning in his own life. Okonkwo required this external order because of his childhood and a strained relationship with his father, which was also the root of his fears and subsequent drive for success. When the structure of Umuofia changed, as happens in society, Okonkwo was unable to adapt his methods of self-evaluation and ways of functioning in the world; the life he was determined to live could not survive a new environment and collapsed around him.
A Doll House was one of Henrik Ibsen's most controversial plays. He wrote this realistic play in 1879. Ibsen's writing style of realism was clearly shown in this play. This play was controversial at the time it was written, shocking conservative readers. But, at the same time, the play served as a rallying point for supporters of a drama with different ideas.
In "A Doll's House", Ibsen portrays the bleak picture of a role held by women of all economic classes that is sacrificial. The female characters in the play back-up Nora's assertion that even though men are unable to sacrifice their integrity, "hundreds of thousands of woman have." Mrs. Linde found it necessary to abandon Krogstad, her true but poor love, and marry a richer man in order to support her mother and two brothers. The nanny has to abandon her children to support herself by working for Nora. Though Nora is economically advantaged, in comparison to the other female characters, she leads a hard life because society dictates that Torvald be the marriages dominant member. Torvald condescends Nora and inadvertently forces Nora to hide the loan from him. Nora knows that Torvald could never accept the idea that his wife, or any other woman, could aid in saving his life.