Jim Butcher once said: “When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching – – they are your family.” No matter what, family will always help; the same can be said for friends who are family. In the article, “The Friendships That Hold Us Safely in Their Keep” by Sara Lukinson and the novel “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan, many similarities and differences can be found pertaining to family. In many circumstances, friends become your family especially if they have stayed by your side. This can be said for both the novel and the article because they characterize friends as family. In the book, Amy wrote, "Auntie, Uncle," I say, repeatedly, nodding to each person there. I have always called these old family friends Auntie and Uncle.” (Tan 15). Jing-Mei Woo describes her family’s friends using the titles of Aunt and Uncle; normally reserved for your parent’s siblings. Throughout her article, Lukinson explains how her friends helped her cope with her sister’s death. Towards the end of the article she says, “My friends, I am lucky to say, held on tightly even on the days I wanted to let go. When I could find no place for myself, they did.”(Lukinson 2017). Although she does not directly say her friends are like her family, Sara’s friends do things that a family would; keeping her grounded in reality and reassuring her whenever there is doubt. At some point of a person’s life, they experience death; whether it is the death of a loved one or a stranger
“Friends are the family you get to choose for yourself.” (Mia Sheridan). People get to choose their friends by their likes and dislikes, but they don’t get to choose their family. In the book, The Pigman, John, Lorraine, and Mr. Pignati demonstrate how friends can change the way their friends think, feel, and act. Many of the characters’ parents show the way one's family can influence bad habits in one’s life. The friends we choose help us make the best memories; John and Lorraine make the best memories with their friend Mr. Pignati more than their family. Sometimes, the closest families are not related to each other.
Characterization is a widely-used literary tool in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Specifically, each mother and daughter is a round character that undergoes change throughout the novel. Characterization is important in the novel because it directly supports the central theme of the mother-daughter relationship, which was relevant in Tan’s life. Tan grew up with an immigrant mother, and Tan expresses the difficulties in communication and culture in the stories in her book. All mothers in the book are immigrants to America, and all daughters grew up living the American lifestyle, creating conflict between the mothers and daughters due to miscommunication. Characterization of the mothers and daughters in Amy Tan’s The Joy Club creates and
Death is one of the most avoided topics because of the finality that comes with it and the fear of the unknown after death. However, there are quite a number of authors such as AtulGawande, Elisabeth Kubler-ross and Ira Byock who have attempted to go ahead and deal with death as a topic and other connected topics.Each of these authors have delved into one of the most revered topics that is death including related topics that come with it such as the dying process itself. Ira Byock’s Dying well: Peace and possibilities at the end of life is a book that looks at the moment prior to death when an individual is terminally sick and is at the point of death. A
Death is something that people must deal with every day in our world, and there are several aspects of death that sometimes the living do not consider. For example, how does one celebrate or remember passed loved ones? What happens to you when you die? How would you like to be remembered? There are multiple ways to answer these questions, and examining differing points of view can be enlightening.
The relationship a mother has with her daughter is one of the most significant relationships either person will possess. In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, the stories of four mothers and their respective daughters are established through vignettes, which reveal the relationships between them. Throughout the novel, the mothers and daughters are revealed to be similar, yet different. Lindo and Waverly Jong can be compared and contrasted through their upbringings, marriages, and personalities.
It is often said that “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,” which means that friends who have been through hardships together often have stronger bonds than families (http://thoughtcatalog.com/nico-lang/2013/09/31-famous-quotatio
Addressing the family and friends thematic cluster, four authors conclude the importance of personal relationships. Though varied in their theses, tones, and styles, each article stresses that individuals quality of life can be positively affected by taking time for companions and relatives. Nancy Gibbs, writer of “The Magic of a Family Meal,” beautifully illustrates the benefits of eating with loved ones often, while “The Company Man” by Ellen Goodman demonstrates the negative effects of making one’s profession a priority over one’s personal life and relationships. Marion Winik in “What Are Friends For?” details the variety and opportunities one has to make friends throughout life. Best friends can persevere through hardships and distance as written in “Friends Forever” by Barbara Hagen. Analyzing these articles substantiated that family and friends are essential to a happy life.
Family will be there for you when no one else is. Friends will be there when family is away. If you have many friends and keep your family close, your life will be much better. An example of family and friends would be in the book, “Of Mice and Men”. George and Lenny were friends and went everywhere together. No matter who talked down to Lenny, George was always there to comfort him and stand up for him. This is why having friends is a good thing and makes your life much better. Another example would be in the book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. After Henrietta’s cells were taken, and her family got mad and started disliking the science community, her whole family kind of grouped together and hated the science community as a group. They stuck together and were there for each other after that. They became closer, and shared their feelings and opinions, while bonding and helping one another out. This shows that family is there for you when no one else may
The novel The Joy Luck Club(1989) which written by Amy Tan has got a big success at that time, in the novel, it has vividly shown the difficult relationship between mothers and daughters and the life of the immigrant families. After that, the novel The Joy Luck Club has been remade the same name movie and released in 1993, which also got big succeed in this movie version. In comparison research on an individual’s preference, more audiences will prefer the movie version, because the tone, background music and the visual impact are better than the book version.
Death is inescapable and shows no partiality or distinction. The author had his first encounter with death when he was four years old. About ten years later he would lose his mother to diabetes. Eighteen years later death struck again. He lost his dad to a battle with cancer over the course of four months. This happened two weeks prior to his wedding. Ten months later the author would deal with the deal of his mother-in-law.
Dying is a natural phenomenon which affects everyone; however, nobody stops to think about it and its implications. If humans truly reflected on what dying meant, it would affect the way they live. Mitch Album, author of Tuesdays with Morrie, was able to study and learn much about life from Morrie Schwartz, his old college professor, who wanted to impart the knowledge he learned as he died to Mitch so he could learn how to live. Morrie believed, “’Once you learn how to die you learn how to live’” (P. 82 M).
In the story, “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote, Buddy is the main character in the story that doesn't have a real family that looks after him, except for his older cousin, who is the only person who has ever offered to foster him and who would give up everything just for him. Buddy and his older cousin have such a strong bond because they have been one another’s family for a long time, they have become best friends since they have done everything together while their other relatives have left them to fend for themselves; true friends are the ones who would do anything to make you happy and truly care for you, this is exactly what buddy’s cousin was for him .
In most people 's lives, they will experience a moment of knowing death is near.
Within all these theoretical standpoints, the theme and process of coming to terms with death and relationship could be regarded as the essence of an existential quest; one
The definition of friends is a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection. Friends are the people you trust outside of your family. These are the people that you surrounded yourself with by choice. The ones that you tell your deepest darkest secrets to. The ones that you go to school with or hang out with on the weekends. Your friends become so close to you they become your “family”. For an example, my closest friend, Kaitlyn Arrington, are always getting asked if we are cousins or sisters. Kaitlyn and I do absolutely everything together. I share everything about my life with her, and she does the same to me. I could not imagine my life without her. Friends are the family you get to choose.