The Unravelling Knots of Family Ties

Families are complex relations forged out of the interplay between love and joy, laughter and mirth, tears and regret. Whether it is the relationship between husband and wife or grandparent and grandchild, problems are always manifest in these familial relations. Family Ties, by Clarice Lispector, is a collection of short stories that explores the problematic nature of relations between kin. As evident in its title, “ties” suggests both the bonds and the burdens that lie among family members. However, Lispector states that these family bonds are only temporary, despite the unifying potential of love. Lispector uses symbolism, repetition, imagery, diction, punctuation, dialogue contrast, point of view, metaphors, and motifs to illustrate the asphyxiating nature of imposed gender roles, distortions of both perception and communication, as well as the inherently flawed generational descent in Family Ties, ultimately stating that these factors inevitably deteriorate family relationships. “The Chicken,” “Happy Birthday,” and “Family Ties,” are three crucial stories found in Family Ties that depict Lispector’s bleak perspective on familial relations.

Lispector uses symbolism, repetition, imagery, diction, punctuation, dialogue, metaphors, and contrast in “The Chicken” to state that society’s expectations of women impose burdens in family relationships. This story is about a chicken that is welcomed and rejected from a family. Lispector uses the chicken as a central symbol to delineate the expectations of women. Initially, the chicken looks “at no one and no one” pays any attention to her (Lispector 49), and “no one would ever” guess that the chicken feels anxious (Lispector 49). Lispector repeats “no one” to declare the la...

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...l expectations of women in “The Chicken” to iterate its influence on relationships. Next, “Happy Birthday” presents the power of different perspectives and lack of interaction by means of communication to separate families, notably through the use of point of view and metaphors. Furthermore, in “Family Ties,” Lispector indicates the breakdown of family relationships that exist due to its primary downfall in previous family generations, using motifs and techniques such as repetition. Likewise, all of humanity is often faced with issues surrounding its respective families. Perhaps, successful family relationships are not meant to be. Perhaps, failure of family relationships is one of the inevitable human dilemmas.

Works Cited

Lispector, Clarice. Family Ties. Trans. Giovanni Pontiero. Austin: University of Texas Press,

1972. Print.