Family

There are many components to the topic of family. Barbara Kingsolver explains family through her excerpt, “Stone Soup”. She talks about divorce and really enforces the idea of family. Betty Smith is able to express her thoughts through her characters: Francie, Neeley, Johnny, and Katie. Her book, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, uses her characters as an outlet to explain the importance of family. I believe the function of family is to share affection, companionship, and emotional support. Also, family is a key component to socialization.

Family teaches each other the basic necessities in life and how to behave. Without family, the world would be out of control. Families depend on each other for love, care, and a home for comfort. Barbara Kingsolver really demonstrates that point when she says, “When I was a child, I had two parents who loved me without cease. One of them attended every excuse for attention I ever contrived, and the other made it to ones with higher production values.” (Kingsolver par.3). She really shows the love parents give to their children and how some parents are willing to fulfill their child’s every need.

Families teach each other disappointment. For example in A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, “I am not a happy man. I got a wife and children and I don’t happen to be a hard-working man. I never wanted a family.’ Again, that hurt around Francie’s heart. He didn’t want her or Neeley...Papa was no good. He said so himself. But she liked Papa better. ‘I love my wife and I love my children.’ Francie was happy again” (Smith 35). This quote shows how even though Johnny isn’t an ideal father, he taught Francie disappointment and she still loves him. Sometimes Johnny says some hurtful things but it teaches Francie to understand the feeling of disappointment.

Routines are also something families teach other and that is very important. Having a basic routine can make someone feel secure and safe. For instance, in A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, “Francie and Neeley got out of bed and they all sat around the table and ate after Papa had put three dollars down on the table and given the children each a nickel which Mama made them put in the tin-can bank explaining they had already received money that day from the junk […] So Johnny and Katie talked away the night and the rise and fall of their voices was a safe and soothing sound in the dark” (Smith 52). Johnny sings and Francie and Neeley sit to eat with Papa no matter the time. Then Francie and Neeley listen to Katie and Johnny while they talk away the night. It is a nice and sweet routine.

The ability be strong wouldn’t be possible without family. In “Stone Soup” Barbara Kingsolver says, “Women my grandmother’s age were likely to live with a fluid assortment of elderly relatives, in-laws, siblings, and children…A family so large and varied would not be easily be brought down by a single blow: It could absorb a death, long-illness, an abandonment here or there, and any number of irreconcilable differences” (Kingsolver par.21). This really shows that there is strength in numbers. Going through hard times can be made easier with family around. This quote really showcases that.

Family is something everyone needs. Betty Smith in A Tree Grows In Brooklyn shows that routines and disappointment are huge components of family. “Stone Soup” by Barbara Kingsolver really illustrates the importance that love and the ability to be strong is what makes family, well, family. Love, emotional care and affection will always be the definition and function of families. As you can see, family is a general idea that has many different meanings that make it very important.