The Impact of a Traumatic Event

703 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analyse the significance of attachment on children’s development

Regardless of how a child acts towards their parents, all that matters in the end is their unconditional love for them. However, the time it takes for them to express their gratitude will depend on each child. In the novel The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri demonstrates this, describing the life of a young boy named Gogol and his continually progressing relationship with his mother. It demonstrates that a child is unable to view his or her parents as a human being until the parent figure experiences a traumatic event that allows the child to empathize with their parents.
Although parents play an immense role in a child’s life, their support is often underappreciated. They are viewed merely as a beneficial object that can either help or hinder the child. Gogol often feels annoyed when his parents call to see how things are going: “’Oh, Nick [Gogol’s nickname]. Your mother called.’ Gerald [girlfriend’s father] had said, glancing up from the screen. ‘Twice,’ Lydia [girlfriend’s mother] added. He felt a sting of embarrassment” (Lahiri 170). A call from his mother is an act of love towards her son. Not only does Gogol not see this, but feels that this unnecessary phone call is an embarrassment on his part. Oftentimes, I feel this way about my mother as well. As she stays at home full time, I am used to being dropped off and picked up by car, rather than finding my own means of transportation. Since I am so accustomed to this lifestyle, I always assume that she will drive me to and from different places on time. However, when I find myself waiting for longer than usual for my mom to pick me up, I feel agitated. Nonetheless, I should still feel thankful that I have a ride to begin with. Both Gogol and I habituate the love from our parents to a...

... middle of paper ...

...pport that they require. These events force us to encounter a leap of maturity, in order for us to finally realize our mothers’ need for love. By experiencing these crises, we can see our parents not as helpful objects, but rather as human beings like ourselves.
The novel The Namesake is clearly able to reflect my life, both showing that children are unable to view their parents as a human being unless the parent is triggered by a traumatic event. This causes the child to feel empathy for the parent figure and suddenly be able to mature so that they can humanize their parents. In this way, traumatic events to the family can often be healthy and necessary for the maturity of the child. After all, if he or she is unable to see their parents at their weakest, the child may take a considerably longer time to discover their gratitude and express the love that is owed.

Show More
Related

  • The Importance of Mothers in All Over but the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    No matter what actions or words a mother chooses, to a child his or her mother is on the highest pedestal. A mother is very important to a child because of the nourishing and love the child receives from his or her mother but not every child experiences the mother’s love or even having a mother. Bragg’s mother was something out of the ordinary because of all that she did for her children growing up, but no one is perfect in this world. Bragg’s mother’s flaw was always taking back her drunken husband and thinking that he could have changed since the last time he...

    Read More

  • Oryx And Crake's Parental Influences

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    Parental influences can negatively impact a child’s life. An example of this is in the novel

    Read More

  • The Unforgetting Short Story

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are different types of parent and child relationships. There are relationships based on structure, rules, and family hierarchy. While others are based on understanding, communication, trust, and support. Both may be full of love and good intentions but, it is unmistakable to see the impact each distinct relationship plays in the transformation of a person. In Chang’s story, “The Unforgetting”, and Lagerkvist’s story, “Father and I”, two different father and son relationships are portrayed. “The Unforgetting” interprets Ming and Charles Hwangs’ exchange as very apathetic, detached, and a disinterested. In contrast, the relationship illustrated in the “Father and I” is one of trust, guidance, and security. In comparing and contrasting the two stories, there are distinct differences as well as similarities of their portrayal of a father and son relationship in addition to a tie that influences a child’s rebellion or path in life.

    Read More

  • William Wilson's Father Cry

    417 Words  | 1 Pages

    A child’s destiny crucially and heavily relies on the parental figures in their lives. Without such beacons of authority children in these broken homes easily feel partial, mislaid and typically turn out to be errant. The novel “Father Cry” by William Wilson, beautifully covers both the ideas of spiritual parental figures and physical parental figures. Analyzing several different subjects such as heartbreak, love, hope and many more, this book is able to holistically cover the general subject of parenthood. This is an amazing book with many things that one can learn from. Many ideas and topics in this book opened my eyes, pushing me to the verge of tears in some parts. That being said, one subject in particular that most impacted me was the

    Read More

  • Mistreatment for Destruction: The Neglect of Family in Oryx and Crake

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a normal functioning family, both parent and child care for and love one another, and display these feelings. A parent is required to nurture his or her child and assure that the child feels loved by spending time together, and by giving the child sufficient attention. However, there are often times when a parent is unable to fulfill these requirements, which can ultimately have damaging effects on the child. A child who is neglected by his or her parents “perceives the world as a hostile and uncaring place. In addition to this negative perception of the world, the neglect a child faces affects later interaction with his or her peers, prompting the child to become anxious and overly withdrawn” (Goldman). This neglectful type of parenting proves to be a pattern in the novel Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, as the main characters, Jimmy, Crake, and Oryx are crucially affected by their parents’ choices and are unjustly abandoned by them. In this novel, the neglect of parents, especially mothers, is clearly reflected in the behaviours of the three main characters.

    Read More

  • Hector Hugh Munro's Sredni Vashtar and John Collier's Thus I Refute Beelzy

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    The portrayal of the parent/guardian relationship in Hector Hugh Munro’s “Sredni Vashtar” and John Collier’s “Thus I Refute Beelzy” demonstrates the devastating effects on Conradin’s and small Simon’s well being due to neglect. The sole- purpose of a parent/guardian relationship is to provide the child with protection, nourishment, continuous affection, and an adequate amount of freedom. The failure to provide these four essential elements affects children psychologically and physically.

    Read More

  • Everyday Use by Alice Walker

    1476 Words  | 3 Pages

    The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.

    Read More

  • What Is The Theme Of Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress

    1569 Words  | 4 Pages

    To what extent do parents influence their child and do parent-child relationship always have to have a negative image, have to involve a tyrannical parental figure, and have to create a burden to the child? I already knew, that most of the time, the influence of parents on the children depends on how devoted the parent is to their child. The reason why I chose this question is because throughout the novels we read in class, I realized there are many scenes where the main character is often affected by their parent and also how their parent’s influence the main character’s personality. My curiosity of why parents have such an impact on their child led me to research this question and also how it can also be applied to my personal

    Read More

  • Analysis Of To A Daughter Leaving Home By Linda Pastan

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is a special bond between parents and children, but there is always uncertainty, whether it’s with the parents having to let go or the children, now adults, reminiscing on the times they had with their parents. The poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home” by Linda Pastan is a very emotional poem about what you can assume: a daughter leaving home. Then the poem “Alzheimer 's" by Kelly Cherry is about the poet’s father, a former professional musician who develops the disease. These are only two examples that show the ambivalence between the parents and the children.

    Read More

  • The Shining

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    Early in the film , a psychologist is called in to treat the troubled child :and she calmed the mother with a statement to the effect that, “ These things come and go but they are unexplainable”. This juncture of the film is a starting point for one of the central themes of the film which is : how a fragile family unit is besieged by unusual forces both natural and supernatural which breaks and possesses and unites with the morally challenged father while the mother and the child through their innocence, love, and honesty triumph over these forces.

    Read More

  • Powder by Tobias Wolff

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Red Convertible By Louise Erdrich

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    Family is one of the most important factors that shape the personality and character of its members. From a very young age children look up to the older members of their family; the older members act as their first teachers, their moral compasses, their role models. But what happens to the younger members of a family when these role models experience something traumatic, when they change. This is the question that is asked in Louise Erdrich’s The Red Convertible and Diane Thiel’s The Minefield. This story and poem show how families can both be strengthened and torn apart as a family member goes through a devastating time, and how the members of the family that look up to them can be brought closer to them, or how they can be parted even further.

    Read More

  • The Effects Of Trauma On Children

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    Children experience decreased development in the left brain when traumatic events occur (Network, n.d.). Imagine being a child and growing up with these types of events occurring. A traumatic event in a child’s life can cause a child to experience a long lasting negative effect. Life events are happening everywhere and more often in the lives of children (Understanding Child Traumatic Stress, n.d.). Trauma can cause them to do three things. First, they try to see what the danger is and how serious it is. Secondly there are strong emotional and physical reactions. Thirdly they attempt to come up with what to do that can help them with the danger. Traumatic events can cause a child to develop differently, which effects the young child stage,

    Read More

  • Trauma Essay

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pulmonary contusions are another consequence from trauma to the chest, possibly not as severe as examples prior, but still dangerous. A pulmonary contusion is usually due to a blunt trauma to the thoracic cavity; the trauma causes blood to accumulate in the lung tissues and alveoli without lacerating the lung tissues. The lungs swell with the blood in the tissues, like a contusion anywhere else on the surface of the body, hence the term, “bruised lung.” With a pulmonary contusion, the patient will present, “...Tachypnea and tachycardia; while auscultating, rales and decreased breath sounds can be heard. Wheezing, coughing, and productive blood streaked sputum can be present; hypotension and reduced cardiac output accompany. Respiratory distress

    Read More

  • A Traumatic Event Research Paper

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every single event that a person experiences changes them, whether for better or for worse. Anything from going on a picnic to tripping over a trashcan has the potential to affect an individual. However, if a person experiences something distressing, such as losing someone they care about or being in a war, that event will have a greater impact of them than performing for a play would. A traumatic event can affect a person’s morals and beliefs. It can also have a negative impact on the brain, which can cause difficulty in the person’s everyday life.

    Read More

More about The Impact of a Traumatic Event

Open Document