O Henrietta Lacks A Familial Love Or Storge?

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I think that Perfect and Emma Jean share a familial love, or storge. In the beginning, this can be clearly seen in the way that Emma Jean fawns over her “daughter”, dressing her more nicely than the other children and giving her preferential treatment. Perfect enjoys this, and loves being made to feel special. Later in the story, after Perfect realizes he is a boy and becomes Paul, Emma Jean still loves him unconditionally and cries at night over the guilt she feels for what she has done. Emma Jean demonstrates the depths of her love for Paul the most when she gets Henrietta to sew a suit for Paul to wear to the dance in exchange for working for free for the rest of her life. I think this is the most selfless thing that Emma Jean has done so far. Paul’s unconditional storge for his mother is seen in a more subtle manner, through his constant longing for the attention he used to get as a girl, and through things such as his appreciating the suit, but telling his mother she really didn’t need to put that great of an effort into him. …show more content…

I think the most beneficial aspects of their relationship are that they are dedicated and loyal to each other, and that even when things get tough, they stay together. They also have well defined roles in the home. For example, Gus tends the crops, while Emma Jean takes care of the house and cooking. One of the biggest faults I see is Emma Jean’s dishonesty about Perfect being a girl. I cannot imagine the betrayal and anger Gus must have felt when confronted with a lie of this magnitude. Despite this, Gus was wrong to beat his wife when he found out the truth, as I do not think that abuse can be

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