“Family dynamics is the term used for the way that families communicate and exist together. Every family has a distinct pattern of relating to one another, which can be positive or negative. (Rachel Olivia). ” The dynamic is often influenced by certain aspects such as structure, dysfunction, and roles played by each member of the family. Therefore, the family dynamic of the charmer is opposite of the family dynamic of Brother dear. Beginning with The charmer, Winnifred the narrator in a family of four children.
All suffering from the greediness of the only son, Zachary. “I no longer wake up each morning with a hard lump of anger pressing against my chest. ”(101) the structure of the family consist of six people, mother father and four children. Zachary being the favorite but the most troubled. If you look at teens today in our society, often the most troubled come from what most people consider a good family. In the novel Brother Dear, Greg is the main character, struggling to gain acceptance from their father.
Greg struggles because he refuses to follow the dreams of his own father, as the text states “Dad says he’s got no drive, no ambition. He’s not stupid, but his marks are crap. I think he went into law just because Dennis did and Dad hasn’t stopped cheering” (Brother Dear 26) but he is constantly reminded that he should be more like is older brother. As Winnifred longs to be like her older brother in The Charmer, “Zachary has such an exotic ring to it, and when all his friends took to calling him Zack, it was like he was a movie star or a tv hero or something” (101 The Charmer).
The whole family suffers from the actions of Zachery, and the way he is undisciplined, as the text states “Zack lied over trifles, and periodically stole money out of wallets that were left lying around. He started smoking at thirteen, and was into the liqueur cabinet by fourteen. At sixteen he smashed up our car one night after a poker party”(103) Winnifred being apart of a dysfunctional family with Zack as the oldest and being the role model, and Sharlene being the youngest being pressured and told what to do is making it stressful for the families to become more fictional.
For both families of Brother Dear and The Charmer. When jack (Greg’s father from brother dear) states that he is extremely disappointed In Greg because he drops out of collage and decides to do what he wants in his life. Zack fails to show up at the hospital when his little sister Lizzie is sick he immediately pleads for forgiveness “Then the words come. No tears. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry,’ and variations on the theme. Start the prodigal son bit, I thought, and I’ll kill you. But he did. ‘… no longer worthy to be called thy son,’ … ‘make me as one of thy hired servants’ my mother was kissing his hand and crying.
I had a terrible desire to spit. ” (105) Zack’s father informs him that “you can stick around and be just what you suggested… ” when Zack is given the ultimatum he chooses to leave as Greg does from Brother Dear, for example “well he’s especially not going to understand if you run away. If i were you I’d go right back there and fight it out. ” (33 Brother Dear). Although Greg leaves it is because he has chosen to follow his dreams, when Zack leaves it is because Zacks father finally realizes what his own son has done to the family.
Zack leaves his family and, a lot of tension is released not within the family but within Winnifred. This can be related to Brother Dear, when Greg leaves he is showing that he can fight for what he believes in and his dreams. When Zack leaves the family drifts further apart because they had lost two children in one week, making the mother extremely depressed, also knowing that Zack was doing wrong made the family worries. When Greg leaves and goes to follow his dreams he is doing right, even though the father disagrees he states “I don’t suppose ill stay away forever” (33).
Saying that eventually he’ll come back were as Zack was never seen again. In both Brother Dear and The Charmer the narrators are younger children, constantly learning from their older brothers. In The Charmer Winnifred idolizes her brother. She even says “I was Zachary’s willing slave” (102) showing that Winnifred was willing to do anything for her brother. As she grows older she comes to realize that Zack is not what he seems, he’s staling and taking advantage of his own family. When Winnifred is older and has her own children.
She realizes that her own daughter Stephanie is exactly like Zack, learning from his actions and mistakes. When Stephanie acts out Winnifed states “then, lest I weaken at the sight of her stricken face, i tiptoed through the milk and walked out of the kitchen. ’Thank you, Zachary,’ I said” (The charmer 108). Winnifred was strong enough and smart enough to realize that Stephanie needed the discipline that Zack did not receive. Sharlene the younger sibling, from Brother Dear is also constantly learning from her older brothers for example she says “no.. o, you’re not nothing. ‘ if going to university is supposed to make something out of you, what are you before you go? Being in grade eleven is no big deal, but is doesn’t feel like nothing, i don’t feel like nothing…. he starts walking and i follow. My brain feels all twisted, like I’ve just discovered I’ve been staring out of the wrong side of my head all my life. Greg suddenly seems a lot older, a lot smart, than me. ” (33 Brother Dear). Sharlene learns that she doesn’t have to follow her father’s dreams to be “somebody”.
That going to university isn’t always the path to happiness. In the story Greg is a disappointment because he trying to follow his dreams but Jack doesn’t realize he’s making everyone of his children follow his own dream. Jack also doesn’t realize he’s pushing his children away by making them do the things he couldn’t fulfill in his life. In both Brother Dear and The charmer family dynamics are used to show the struggles of the families and help understand the narrator’s point of view and interactions influenced by the family.
In both Brother Dear and The charmer family dynamics are used to show the struggles of the families and help understand the narrator’s point of view and interactions influenced by the family. Over all we can all learn a lesson from both stories, we can learn to follow our dreams regardless of what people say think or do. We learn to respect our families. From The Charmer we learn not to judge someone by the way they treat us because even though Zack was disrespectful he was still given a chance to redeem himself. Both stores were very good and had meaningful text.
