Rereading America - The Myth of One Big Happy Family
The story that I chose to write about was "One Big Happy Family," by Anndee Hochman. The story is about a young woman whose family life seemed to be the American dream, for those of us looking in from the outside. Her family owned a house in the city like most of us and a house on the beach. The house on the beach was unique with its architecture anomalies, which made the house more a mix and match of parts than like her normal home in the city. The whole family, including relatives from afar, would gather there during the summer to spend time with each other. When in actuality behind her family's unity, was a demand for conformity to her family's way of life and thinking. The author finally realized that in order for her to find happiness she had to look within herself and learn to listen to her feelings. Once she learns this lesson, she will be able to break the bounds of her family's conformity and find the peace of mind that she has always longed for. Several of the stories throughout this chapter discuss different myths of "One Big Happy Family," however it all seems to come back to the individual, and what they believe in. Anndee's house is unique with its red picket fence, a bathroom with two doors, b
After reaching adulthood Anndee began to develop her own opinions and thoughts that did not necessarily coincide with her family's view. Anddee began to explore her own sexuality and discovered that she preferred the company of women to that of men. Upon this discovery she decided to inform her family of her on-going relationship with a woman friend. This was in direct opposition to what her family believed in. Her family had always been in the mind frame that husbands and wives produced grandchildren, and that in turn helped the family grow. They had never discussed or considered same- sex relationships having any place in their family. When she informed her mother of her sexual preference, her mother could not cope with the knowledge that her daughter was not going to conform to her views. Her mom wanted to know how could such a thing happen when Anddee had been such a good, cheerful, diligent, and brainy child that would not make this abnormal decision (Hochman). How could her mother even think that they were normal when they lived in the type of summer home that they had where nothing was ever normal? What her mother needed to grasp was that it was not her decision to make but Anddee's. Her mother needed to realize that a love of a mother should be unconditional no matter what sexuality her child chooses. After only spending a few painful days at their summer house, Anddee went home early with sadness
Some common words found in the essay are:
Happy Family, Anndee Hochman, Family Unfortunately, American Family, happy family, summer home, , Community Home, american family, Rereading America, feel families communicated, families communicated maybe, feel families, house unique, house beach, families communicated, communicated maybe, peace mind,
Approximate Word count = 967
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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