Outline Thesis: Family relationships are central to human existence, health, and happiness.
This is also an important unit of social structure and it often faces challenges. Conflict is inevitable. Communication is a key to resolving conflict. I.
Discuss family relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Millard. a) The relationship failure between husband and wife in ‘The story of An Hour’ b) Impact on marriage and sexual relationship between husband and wife.
II. Analyze relationship between James and his mother. ) Communication between James and his mother in story ‘Responsibility’ b) Adult challenges and difference in values. III. Conclusion a) Solution for relationship conflict.
b) Family relationship in 21st century Family relationships are central to human existence, health, and happiness. The family is an important unit of social structure. All relationships require negotiations, compromise and sharing.
Learning to manage conflict and resolve disagreements are important skills for healthy relationships.In the story called, “ The story of An Hour,” by Kate Chopin talks about a lot of disbelief that Mrs. Mallard was about to face. This story also reveals a deep secret that Mrs. Mallard has been hiding for years.
Chopin offers Mrs. Mallard’s strange story to reveal the troubles that are natural in the custom of marriage. There are various ways in which people may feel about their loved ones and might not even have the chance to speak of how they feel.
Many people of all different ages, sexes, and cultures would react dissimilarly to the astonishing portrayal of the Mallards’ marriage.Marriage often causes the two differences between people that make them unable to communicate with each other. The Mallard’s marriage was crippled by both their inability to talk to one another and Mrs. Mallard’s confidence that her marriage was just a “powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. ” She does not recognize that it is not just men who inflict their will upon women and that the problems intrinsic in marriage affect men and women equally.Chopin is showing a social situation of the times with the woman as prisoner of her husband. It is common knowledge that marriages are not always about mutual love between two people and during the time that Chopin was writing, this was more often the case. Marriage was as much about monetary comfort, social status and acceptance as it was about possible love.
There are no children mentioned in this story which makes the reader wonder if there was a sexual relationship between the Mallards. The title of the story leads one to believe that Mrs. Mallard has been trapped in relationship for a long time.
Throughout the story the wife was probably controlled by her husband and that their relationship was not a happy one at all. In the story called “Responsibility” by Russell Smith, James struggles to meet the adult challenges of career, home and family while they mourn the aspirations of their youth. The whole story is about a conversation between a mother and her adult son James.
It seems like both the mother and son are trying to come to terms with each other’s values. Communication holds the key for any relationship and the mother-son bond is no exception. Every son looks at his mother as a confidant.In the beginning James’ mother talks to him about his future and advises him to settle down in his life: “I just think that you would be happier with children. ” The mother tries to teach her values such as what is right and wrong as well as what is expected from him and what is not in family relationships. The recent study shows, families with sons experienced stronger emotional distancing than families with daughters. At one point in the story, the mother shares her secret of successful relationship with her husband and tries to set a perfect example for James.
Perhaps this is the only way he would look up to her as a role model. At the end of the story the mother got frustrated with her son James, “It’s just that you’re also arrogant about everything, it’s not very nice. Nice people don’t do things for themselves. ” The mother was sobbing because she couldn’t come to terms with her son on her own values about relationships. The mother and James love each other; however the generation gap leads to a difference in their values and responsibility. Family relationship is an interaction and bond between two or more people and is all about trust, belief and confidence.The fact that conflicts in relationships are inevitable remains an undeniable truth.
Conflict resolution is not a difficult task as it is considered to be. What it requires is a conscious effort on both sides, and a readiness to solve conflicts with an open mind and value each other’s feelings. In the mid – 20th century Powerful social changes started in developed world, and by the 21st century ladies have a more central role in family relationships.
The women began working outside of the home as the norm. Careers for women and dual income partnerships are now accepted.This creates problems in the traditional structures of relationships, since women are now also money providers, and in some cases provide more than men. The balance of power has now shifted, as we move away from hierarchical models of relating and no one is entirely sure how sex fits into this new kind of relationship. Works Cited Chopin, K.
“The Story of an Hour. ” The Mercury Reader: A Custom Publication. Comp.
M. Rubens. Toronto: Pearson Custom Publications, 2006. 1-4.
Russell Smith. “Responsibility. ” The Mercury Reader: A Custom Publication. Comp.
M. Rubens. Toronto: Pearson Custom Publications, 2006. 36-44.