Family. When you hear that word… What pops in your head? By definition, family is a group consisting of parents and children living together but, we all know that's not always the case nowadays and that the true definition of a family is not one we could effortlessly put in the dictionary. Why you say? Because every person in the world has their own way of believing what a family is to them. I believe a family is not necessarily those of people who share DNA with you, but stand by you no matter what happens and showers you with unconditional love. In a family, every person functions as one just as a heart beats as one. Authors Barbara Kingsolver as well as Betty Smith do a beautiful job conveying their insight of family in their pieces of writing; Stone Soup and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
First, in Stone Soup, it states " The sooner we can let go the fairytale of families functioning perfectly in isolation, the better we might embrace the relief of community(Kingsolver;25)." In this one sentence you get a huge understanding of how Kingsolver feels and interprets family. She believes once we stop being singular minded and think of all the other families that are not our traditional "dollhouse" family, that everyone will live a happier life. Although this is true, Betty Smith introduces her character's view on family in a slightly different direction. Because divorce was such a bad thing back then, It really wasn't a view of a family or considered a family if you were divorced but Katie said something that really brought them all together. "From now on," she said, "I am your mother and your father." (Smith;299)." This shows how Katie, the mother of Francie and Neeley, shows her insight of family. Her perspective of family changed and she believed she was the mother and father of the household.
Next, is back to Kingsolver. She says a line that is elegantly written and it goes like this " Any family is a big empty pot, save for what gets thrown in.(Kingsolver;31)." In this quote, what it really means is that every family is the same in a sense of their interpretation and everyone else's. Either way you still have a family and don't waste time looking at every family or empty pot instead look at the things that happen during your family and try to resolve the crisis.
Last but not least is my own experience and one I can relate to Betty Smith's quote, "Somehow during their aimless but oh-so-significant conversation with its delicious pauses and thrilling undercurrents of emotion, they came to know that they loved eachother passionately (Smith; 59)." I think what Betty is trying to take out of this quote is how young they were when they decided to get married and have a family and not necessarily being good but how hard it was since they were soo young. My parents also had this similar situation where they fell in love but really didn't know much about eachother (other than the fact he was a buisnessman at the time and all the girls were smitten for him!) They went through some tough times immigrating to America and my dad was no longer the man everyone knew and it kind of saddened her. Overall, she still loves him no matter what and stook with him all these years and are happily married with 8 kids! Of course, just as Katie fights with her husband once in a while just as every other husband and wife, my mom and dad have arguments here and there but nothing that I can't handle. Reading this book really made me grateful of having a father and should cherish his presence for as long as it should last. Love should determine marriage because ultimately at the end, love is what truly holds a family together.
To conclude, now you must be thinking... Wow.. How much things have changed over a period of time. And every period has their own interpretation of family and changes all the time. But no matter what happens I will always believe in my head that family is not those of people who share DNA, but stand firm amongst eachother side by side. Now the real question is... What does family mean to you?
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