Divorce In Barbara Kingsolver's Essay 'Stone Soup'

Society considers divorce as a failure and a destruction to a family unit when in reality divorce should be considered normal considering that the majority of families are blended or single parent homes. Barbara Kingsolver, an american novelist and essayist states her thoughts about divorce, blended and broken families in her essay titled “Stone Soup.” She argues that no family is perfect and that all families have problems. She uses examples, statistics and metaphors to persuade her readers of what a true family is. She informs us based on her own life experiences: her values, changes, and choices which ended in her divorce.
　　Kingsolver starts off her essay with a scenario; She’s at Andy’s, her best friend’s son, soccer game. The boy scores

the winning goal and the crowd starts cheering. In the section of the cheering crowd is Andy’s mother, his father and stepmother, a stepbrother and stepsister, and a grandparent. She states that this, though it may seem like it to many people, is not a “broken” home. That moment is when she realizes that families are subject to change and they can indeed, still work as a family. She talks about how everyone wants the perfect family, a “family of dolls” which consists of a Mom, Dad, Sis, and Junior. However, in reality, it is hardly ever achieved due to the divorce rate and single parenting.
　　Kingsolver imforms us of how she used to believe that divorve was just a simple way out of problems. She thought divorcement was a selfish way of putting one’s own happiness before family.