The Concept of Family
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The concept of family has been in existence for a long time, and relationships between families are among the most vital elements of co-existence. A family is a group of people sharing common ancestors. This essay reflects on a variety of characters from fictional books provided to show how these characters dealt with family relationships. The essay touches on literary themes of revenge, good and evil, and love, as portrayed in three fictional books read in this term.
Hamlet is the first and the central book, which is used to develop this essay. The work is full of all the literary themes mentioned in the first paragraph. Revenge appears to dominate the development of this paper, and also from the three fictional works, it is evident that revenge is the biggest family conflict in the 21st century. Almost every grown-up person has gone through some revenge from someone else even to revenge someone. Revenge is the act of retaliating or doing something evil to someone as pay of an evil thing they did to you. In Hamlet, the force of revenge builds from the start of the story to the end. The old king Hamlet is killed by Claudius, who takes his throne and becomes the new king. That seems not enough for greedy Claudius, who remarries the late old king Hamlet’s wife called Gertrude. It becomes a duty and a mission for Young prince Hamlet’s son to the old king Hamlet to avenge his father’s death and the immoral behavior by Claudius of remarrying his mother. The revenge date arrives, but it is so fierce that four people die in the course. Young prince Hamlet manages to kill his uncle Claudius, and although he also dies due to poisoning, the prince with a dying breath leaves his friend called Horatio to tell their stories. In the next called Fences, there is revenge, which comes as a result of being an irresponsible man. Troy is portrayed as an irresponsible man to his family, and he is abusive to his wife Rose and his son Cory. Troy evicts his son from his house, and when he dies of heartbreak, Cory feels reluctant to attend his burial, although his mother convinces him to attend. Troy and his family’s story is a classic example of house violence, and irresponsibility builds a bitter family that can only unite when the biggest perpetrator dies. Cory finds peace after the death of his father, and he returns home. The third story is the Cask of Amontillado, which is a story of two men, whereby one is bitter than the other. Montresor is a dangerous man in great bitterness on Fortunato, whom he accuses of insulting his family. Montresor appears to be psychotic because his revenge is too inhuman, showing how important family is to human beings. Fortunato’s insult on the Montresor family appears to be very humiliating to the extent that Montressor wants to bury him alive. Fortunato probably made the insults out of drunkenness, but Montressor is so bitter to understand that. From the three stories, it becomes evident that the connection between individuals and their families is so strong that individuals might end up doing the unthinkable to seek justice for their beloved one.
Good and evil dominate the three books to a considerable extent. In Hamlet, Claudius is an agent of evil doing. He kills his brother out of greediness and remarries his wife. Claudius also plans a secret card to kill Young prince Hamlet before the young lad kills him. Claudius is aware that evil is paid with evil, and he does not want to wait for his death, which feels inevitable. If family members can turn evil against each other to an irreconcilable extent, this is a good example of such families. Many people have experienced an awful experience or a bad encounter with their families that were beyond their expectations. The good side of the story of Hamlet is seeking justice by the Young prince Hamlet. The little man sorts justice, and he ended up killing greedy Claudius. In Fences, Troy was an evil man who never showed love to his family, unlike his friend called Bono. It is fascinating to understand that Troy and Bono are friends, but they have very distinct characters. Bono represents a good person in a family setting. He is faithful to his wife, and he often checks on Troy and warns him of any bad behaviors. In the Cask of Amontillado, both men appear evil. The story represents two wrongs that do not make a right.
Love is the greatest human gift. A strong family foundation is built out of love, and that seems to be the case in the Old king Hamlet. His son Young prince Hamlet appears to have a very strong connection and affection to his family, which is why he fights the end until he kills Claudius. In the Fences, Bono had a great love for his family, and he never attempted anything hurting his wife. Rose, who is Troy’s wife, also knows the importance of love for family. She maintains love from the start to the end despite how evil Troy was as a family man. In the Cask of Amontillado, Montresor appears to have a very strong love connection with his family. Love is what builds a family.
Revenge, good and evil, and love are the three main literary forms that dominate the concept of family. Every family has had an experience of these three elements, and one must win at the end.
References
Wilson, A. (2016). Fences (Vol. 6). Penguin.
Shakespeare, W. (1909). The tragedy of Hamlet. At the University Press.
Poe, E. A. (2008). The cask of Amontillado. The Creative Company.