Portrait's Contribution

A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man presents more difficulty when attempting to answer the question of how the family unit has an effect on society. Stephen does not seem to enduce profound changes in society as a whole, however, in his immediate surroundings his actions have an impact. From there, it becomes further unique with the knowledge that he goes to a boarding school, and much of the time he is in the boarding school/college setting. Although there are significant instances where is parents and siblings are presented they do not seem to play as big a role in his upbringing as do the priests and prefects who suurround him. Therefore, however, one must consider his parents' decision to send Stephen to boarding school an element of the family unit. It appears possibly as a separation of the family unit. Now his actions and affects on his surroundings can be attributed/compared to his family life.
Throughout the novel, Stephen travels through a series of transformations and realizations. His serch for significance and purpose coarses through the entire novel, and his artistic passion results. Throughout, his journey, his relationship with his parents appears strained. He is the oldest, the one who his parents invested their very best in. He obtained the opportunity to attend school in preparation for the priesthood. However, his ideas and desires end up differing from those of his parents. His mother, who prays that he becomes the priest she envisioned and his dad who lives in the past seem simply disconnected from him. This possibly results from the disconnection between them in vacinity. Just as their ideas differ, their residence differs as well.
From this disconnect, anger rises. Stephen expresses explicitley near the end of the novel his dislike and anger towards his mother. Furthermore, during the chapter 2, Stephen reveals that he detests his father's focus on the "good old days," the past. Stephen even finds his fathers discussions immature and shallow. This disconnect with the family unit, a place to feel secure and accepted, may be a portion of the reason behind his consistent battle between lustful desires and religious piety. Without a secure place to claim his identity he battles with the extremes. Even though a unified family would not remove the struggle to find meaning in life, it might have provided a safer place to search in. That may have prevented him from experimenting with such extremes.
Furthermore, growing up with his family in a possitive environment, may have increased his appreciation for people. It seems that throughout the novel, he expresses various anger with his peers. A possitive relationship with his parents and a unified family may have reduced his distaste for others.

Beloved's Contribution

Family appears as a distorted concept in the environment presented throughout Beloved. Slavery in America supplied an environment where African Americans grew up without any kind of family. The women were bred and the males sold as breeders. Children sold without even knowing their parents. Baby Suggs had 7 children all of which were taken from her except for Halle. She expressed the grief in giving up her children and the mountainous joy in living with Halle- having him present in her life. Furthermore, the relationship between Sethe, Halle and their children proves of utmost importance. Through their relationships, or lack of, tragedy and joy results. By Sethe severing her relationship with Beloved when Beloved was a baby, their relationship becomes toxic- smothering and almost killing Sethe as well as Denver. On the other hand, Denver's relationship with Sethe, although strained, provides an essential source of love for both characters. Contrasty, Paul D.'s family is ripped from him causing him to "love thin." His heart is rusted shut, his feelings bottled up. Without a family, there appears no safe place, no refuge to call home. Such was the dilemma for the majority of the slave population here in the United States. The family unit was simply absent and if it did exist it was broken.
Therefore, when observing the characters' effects on society their family background must be considered. First, we must look at the overall societal effects of slavery and the individuals coming out of slavery such as division, hate, fear, poverty, insecurity, crime, and lack of education. While not all of these can be contributed to the lack of the family unit, it must be considered as a feasible contributor. With no family, their is no security, no source of encouragement. With no security, fear and insecurity arise. With fear and insecurity, crime protrudes. Similarly, with no family and a divided society to begin with, education lacks. With a lack of education, poverty and crime result. Society disintegrates if the family disintegrates. Noticing specific examples from Beloved, Sethe had no real motherly figure (she was in the fields all day and soon hanged). Therefore, her methods of handling, caring, and protecting her own children tended toward the extreme (murdering Beloved to keep her from slavery). She acted more as an animal than as a human. "You have two legs, Sethe, not four." Baby Suggs did have a mother figure (because she came over from Africa) and appeared successful in raising Halle (the only son she was permitted to raise). Furthermore, she acted as a mother, caring and loving, for the freed African Americans and they loved her for it. Paul D.'s thin love (resulting from his enslavement as well as his absent family) leaves him searching and unsettled. Such insecurity leaves him hardened yet fragile. He doesn't trust many others and moves around regularly. He even refuses a home when it is offered to him after he leaves Sethe. However, when he finally finds a place to settle down, he concurrently finds a family to become a part of. His rusted box of a heart comes to rest only after he finds a place to call home.

The Stranger's Contribution

The character active in Meursault appears a consequence of his upbringing and family surroundings. Therefore, one must observe the family elements when considering Meursault's personality and compare that to his contribution to society. It is clear from The Stranger, that Meursault had no father figure in his life. He comments that he never knew his father. Furthermore, it appears possible that Meursault's current personality resulted from losing his mother to the "old peoples home." This logic comes from the quote on page 41 where Meursault presents, "When I was a student, I had lots of ambitions like that (moving to Paris). But when I had to give up my studies I learned very quickly that none of it really mattered." From this, it seems that Meursault did not always exhibit the personality that is evident in the book. There must have been an event that forced him to give up "his studies." One possible event was losing his mom to the old people's home. If that was such a traumatic event that it changed his entire personality, then it would also explain why he appeared so indifferent at his mothers actual death. On page 44, the novel reads, "It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed." If nothing had changed with Maman's death then the major change and loss of her must have occurred when Meursault lost Maman to the home. Thus, losing his mother to the home resulted in a drastic change in personality giving him the characteristics presented during The Stranger.

Therefore, as one observes Meursault's contribution and affect on society, his family history must be considered. We see during the novel that Meursault's personality of indifference brings about both positive and negative results on society. His personality of indifference appears evident on the last pages of the book when Meursault comments, "I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself- so like a brother, really." Furthermore, Meursault says, "I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs got in the way of my feelings." (p65) On one hand, this personality appears to have a positive result in society. He does not pass judgment on others. He is honest in everything he says. He lives in the moment. On the other hand, his personality presents dangers for society. His indifference prevents him from connecting on a deeper level with others (besides physical). " I told her it (love) didn't mean anything." Furthermore, this personality type prevents him from feeling any real remorse or following a strong moral code. Through the language used, it seems that Meursault killed the Arab by chance or "because the sun made me." Such a personality that can be persuaded so easily is also a danger to society as much as it is a breath of fresh air. That is why he is condemned to death.

In conclusion, it appears that the lack or loss of parental figures can result in personalities that develop defense mechanisms to protect against the hurt of loss. These defense mechanisms may appear in the form of detachment or indifference so as not to feel let down. When one doesn't really care about anyone or anything how can he or she feel hurt. Therefore, with the loss of a parental figure, it seems possible that detachment may occur resulting in both praiseworthy and detestable actions. Familial loss can be dangerous for society.

Crime and Punishment's Contribution

Crime and Punishment presents a number of contrasting character relations and family interactions. Raskolnikov, the main character, seems to have no real father figure in his life. Therefore, as one observes Rodya's influence on society, his family background must be taken into consideration. In general he appears to have a negative affect on society. He murders two women, deceives his friends and family, acts cruelly, even to those he loved, and appears unable to portray a consistent personality. People around him feel hurt because of him. The question then becomes, why? Why would someone with such a brilliant mind, loving mother and sister, and opportunities for success brood over his life to the point of murder? What brings Raskolnikov to murder? It seems from his explanation to Sonia and himself that he considers himself extraordinary, not bound by society's rules. However, to the reader, its seems that Rodya performs these acts because he searches for his worth, looking for a purpose. Therefore, when he observes Napoleon and other conquerors, he fancies their rise to power. He assumes that they had to step out of the bounds of society to achieve their success and their historical fame. Consequently, Rodya thinks of himself in the same light. He concludes that to achieve success he must step outside societal bounds. There is no father figure present in Rodya's life to tell him his worth. Therefore, he searches for his worth in other ways. Without a father figure in the family, Rodya appears to suffer from insecurity, which leads to a negative societal outcome.

Another important character in Crime and Punishment is Sonia. She seems to have both a positive and negative influence on society. Her circumstances at home lead her to prostitution. However, her intentions are noble. In another light, she encourages those around her with her innocence and, from the epilogue, she seems to bring happiness to all who knew her. Sonia lives within at least some kind of family unit with a father and mother and siblings. But again, there is brokenness in the family. Her father suffers from drunkenness and Sonia lost her mother at an early age. However, with the presence of her step mother, and at least some kind of father figure, Sonia's influence on society strikes one as being more positive than Rodya's influence. This appears to communicate that parental figures play an important role in children's success in society. On the other hand, one must notice the inherent differences in personalities between characters such as Rodya and Sonia. There are other elements of their personality that contribute to their influence on society. Their family environment is not the single most important element in their eventual influence on society.

One last observation about Crime and Punishment's message on the importance of relationships in one's influence on society appears in Svidigralov and Rodya. Svidigralov ends up with no one to confide in and no family to rest on. He, therefore, commits suicide. However, Rodya has relationships that keep him afloat. This clear contrast in outcome for two individuals who appear to resemble each other provides evidence that humans need relationships. Humans are relational beings, and the importance of their relations may determine life or death.

Lear's Contribution

There are numerous family dynamics explored in Lear, and their effects on society are critical. However, those effects are not fully presented in the book. There are two main families to consider: Lear and his daughters and Gloucester and his sons. In Lear’s case there is no mention of a mother. Therefore, when considering the actions of his daughters, that element of the family unit must be considered. Additionally, we notice that the main conflict between Gloucester, Edgar, and Edmund stems from the mother. Because Edmund is illegitimate, his mother was not actually Gloucester’s wife (technically not part of the family). Edgar’s mother, though, is Gloucester’s wife (part of the family). This clear chasm in the family unit noticeably impacts the society around it along with the family members. The dissention that fills Edmond’s heart stems from his illegitimacy. He craves the meaning and inheritance that is promised to him in a proper family, a legitimate family. Therefore, he takes whatever actions he can to ensure a future of power and authority, of honor and meaningfulness. Therefore, this desire appears to come from his broken family. His desire for meaning and legitimacy is a result of a divided family where affirmation and encouragement seem to have been void. Consequently, the effects of Edmonds insatiable search for power can be attributed back to his family upbringing. Those effects are, division, violence, deception, and to the extreme, war and death. Edmund plays a role in all of these, and although these results mainly affect his immediate companions in the book, one can assume that the larger society is also affected similarly. Furthermore, when regarding Lear’s family and its influence on society, similar parallels exist. The original pride of Lear prompts partition between his daughters. His favoritism results in division in his family, which results in division in society. The power struggle prompted by Lear’s initial irrational, results in division, violence, deception, war, and death (similar to Gloucester’s family contributions). In both cases, elements of division in the family unit appear to reveal the cause of societal clashes. In Lear’s case, there was favoritism and in Gloucester’s, there was adultery. Both divisions, however, seem to result in negative outcomes. Thus, family unity would logically seem to result in positive outcomes.

Oedipus' Contribution

In the poem Oedipus, Oedipus finds himself in a dilemma that relates directly to the relationships in his family. In the background before the story, we learn that his real parents, Laius and Jocasta, abandoned him from fear of a prophesy. Therefore, one can attribute his final outcome to his original abandonment. If the family was not severed, then maybe Oedipus’ downfall could have been avoided. We can conclude that family separation has possible, unforeseeable, tragic outcomes on the individual and society. Another element of Oedipus’ family background that leads to his demise is deception. He was not told that he was the son of Laius. If Polybus really loved Oedipus as a son and a part of the family, then he should have been honest with him. Due to lack of honesty, Oedipus ran away to find out the truth. When he was finally able to find the truth, it was too late. Due to lack of transparency on Polybus’ part, his family collapsed. Consequently, we can also conclude that honesty is essential within the family unit to prevent future demise. That coincides with Wallace Gray’s comment, “Oedipus is a man who doesn’t know the most important thing in his life: his identity.” Identity partially comes from family; therefore, Oedipus’ lack of identity is somewhat caused by his lack of knowledge regarding his true family.

Now that we analyzed aspects of the family unit in Oedipus, we notice those aspects’ affects on society. Due to the great influence that Oedipus has on his society, the influence of his family background is accentuated. In this case, we see the affects of negative family characteristics. Oedipus’ misunderstanding of his history leads to a plague on his city. Even though he did not know of his crime against his father, his crime led to death and disease for others. His blindness also affected his children and their children. Due to lack of family unity, Oedipus passed on the generational curse. His daughters would not have suitors because of his reputation, and from there, repercussions continue even into the next generations.

How does your first independent study book relate to your big question? Reflect on some pertinent textual details and ideas from this book

In Barbara Kingsolver's novel A Poisonwood Bible, Kingsolver takes the reader through the adventures of a family who moved from Bethlehem, Georgia to Kilanga, Congo. In essence, the whole book focuses on the family interactions between each other and the people around them. Consequently, numerous family dynamics are brought to life and examined from different perspectives. Each of the women in the Price family, present their thoughts and feelings around the present events, and most of their comments regard others in their family. The reader, therefore, sees the overlap between the familial events and the societal events; each event is separate but interlocked. As the reader observes the relationships in the family changing, they also see a change in the relationships between the Price family and the rest of the community.



One strong example of this overlap is Leah's attitude change toward her father. As she loses trust in her father's judgement she also pushes the boundaries of the societal norms by wanting to hunt with the men. Although unaccepted by the elderly in the community, Leah fights for her right to hunt as she fights against her father's control over her. Leah's reactions are separate but parallel. As a result, the reader observes various affects that the family unit has on society, which corresponds to the big question, "What influences do the family unit have on society?"