Topic of Importance of Family in Poems and Shows

To some people, the importance of family is them being by your side whether it’s for support on something you are passionate about or just thinking that family is what makes you who you are. Family is important to everyone and is the key to our future on the people we want to be and for loved ones, we love dearly. Family is expressed in so many ways and is ultimately what makes family even more important.

Henry Longfellow’s poem “The Children’s Hour” expresses the significance of family very strongly and delivers a stunning story from a family's point of view on what they think is the importance of family. The poem describes Longfellow’s ideal family life with his three daughters named Alice, Edith, and Anne Allegra. As daylight begins to fall, the narrator of the poem Longfellow is sitting in his study and hears his daughters in the room above. He describes this daughter's movement as a 'sudden rush' and a 'sudden raid' by the unguarded doors of his study as his daughter rushed into his arms and give their father kisses in his research, who in turn promised to keep them forever in his heart. Longfellow establishes a very hardworking father that works long hours at his job and must provide food and money for his family even though the father is exhausted from his job, the father states, “And has but a single hour reserved for interaction with his daughters.” This is showing that even though the father is very tired he will always make time for his daughters for at least an hour to show the love and importance of his daughters. Longfellow delivers a poem that is very important for families around the world that may work a long hour job and may suffer from exhaustion from their job but if a parent can receive far more exchange involved in raising a child and if their love and antics can divert him/her from the care of the world than they can show their child the love and affection they deserve and for the parent to know that their family is way important even if you’re exhausted.

In Maya Angelou’s poem “Mother, A Cradle to Hold Me” it shows the bondage of a mother and her daughter and how the mother teaches her daughter what’s important such as family and their future in this world. The entirety of the poem's theme is to establish that a mother’s love towards her child never changes. The initial needs of a child whether it’s them wanting something from a store or how needy they are towards you or the attitude that is given towards you, love will never change for a mother no matter the circumstances. In “Mother, A Cradle to Hold me” shows imagery towards the poem. In one passage from the poem, a young child at this point, states, “I feared if I let you go you would leave me eternally….without warning, you left me, but you returned immediately.” This shows that as life goes on they are scared that they would leave them and never return which would make them upset. As I was reading this, I visualized this with my younger siblings as they cry every time I leave to return home and see the sadness that is upon my younger siblings. However, upon my return, my siblings realized that I would never leave them but would always return to visit them. I will always return to see my siblings when I am able to, just as in the poem the speaker realizes her mother shall return for her every time. ”You left again, but again returned. Each time you reentered my world you brought assurance. Slowly I gained confidence.” The imagery used in this poem not only helps establish emotion but adds a sense of relief as the mother's love never dies. As the teenage years start, the majority of mothers are seen as unknowledgeable or useless as they see that they no longer need their mother and can survive on their own. The poet writes, “When you knew nothing and I knew everything, I loved you still. Condescendingly of course, from my high perch of teenage wisdom.” The imagery that is used is for the reader or the daughter to feel guilty of how they treat their mother because of every sacrifice that they made for their child over the years and a very difficult stage for mothers around the world which are teenage years. This poem gives readers a great visualization of their childhood and how grateful people are for having a loving and supportive mother by their side teaching them their wrongs from their rights. Towards the end of the poem, the speaker then thanks their mother by stating, “Let me thank you that my selfishness, ignorance, and mockery did not bring you to discard me like a broken doll.” The poem shows the unconditional love that a mother has for her child that was given by their mothers and to show their kids the love and support they were given when they were younger. This poem shows a great amount of the importance of family with love and support towards one another and how things will never change from a mother’s love for her child.

Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” teaches us the importance of family throughout the book. Throughout the book, we also see recurring themes of family orientation, the different levels in Maycomb, and how each family unit or character is affected by the conditions of their family. Most of the families in the book have a backstory that makes the characters the way they are and Lee uses this through imagery. At the beginning of the book we meet Atticus, Scout, and Jem, they seem like a very average family even if they don’t have a mother present in the book but as we get further into the next few chapters we meet new characters and realize that the family is different. Their family is trustworthy and tight which the majority of the other families in this book lack especially in the time period of the Great Depression. Their family is built upon respect for one another and this is shown in the way that they all speak to each other. For example, Jenn and Scout don't call their father “dad” but rather call him Atticus out of respect. Their family is based on respect and that family is very important in a time like this with the Great Depression. This shows that family is always necessary in a time of need and that they will always have your back but also the need of taking responsibility for what you do on a day-to-day basis.

“A Visit from St. Nicholas” was written by Clement Clarke Moore, who is a famous American poet. The poem illustrates the excitement of a family as they wait for the arrival of Christmas on a late Christmas Eve night. This poem is about children on their joy for Christmas just around the corner and was written from the perspective of a young child who was waiting for St. Nicholas on Christmas Eve to give them their presents for Christmas day. Every year, St. Nicholas comes with a lot of gifts and candies to children for Christmas day to surprise them with joy. As one of the kids hears St. Nicholas, the child starts to examine St. Nicholas’s actions and his every move that he does as he drops off the presents and candies. However, what grabs the reader’s attention is the joy that St. Nicholas brings towards children. This poem establishes joy and happiness towards families and children. The poet has presented the enthusiasm of a family on Christmas. The night is quiet and peaceful as the family waits for their stockings to be filled and for presents to be under the Christmas tree. They witness the appearance of St. Nicholas as he does The arrival of St. Nicholas not only brings the delight of joy to Christmas but adds color and more feeling to Christmas because of St. Nicholas’s arrival. This establishes the importance of family by St. Nicholas bringing joy to families around the world by giving gifts to children. Not only is he bringing gifts for families but having everyone’s family in the same household on one day of the year to celebrate with family to not only think that Christmas is about presents but by having your loved one around you for a special holiday.

Another piece of evidence is in the late 80s to early 90s sitcom Full House. This is a show about a sports anchor named Danny Tanner who has three daughters named DJ, Stephanie and Michelle and is a single father whose wife sadly passed away in a car accident. So Danny decides that raising three girls will be complicated for him after losing his wife and has his brother-in-law Jesse and his best friend since Elementary Joey to help raise his children. Full House is about loving and supporting family 24/7 but throughout the show realizes that being a single father and dealing with three male parent figures is hard as the girls don’t know what it is like to not have their mother around anymore. However, as the years go on and the more they all grow up, they learn to cope with love, support, and discipline. An example of the importance of family to the sitcom show would be when the episode “Slumber Party”, is aired on TV. Stephanie is invited to a mother-and-daughter sleepover party for her honey-bee group. Since Stephanie doesn’t have a mother and is still trying to cope with her mother's death she is nervous about going since she no longer has a mother but everyone in her honey-bee group does and doesn’t want to feel left out, her aunt Becky tells her that she would go with her. Unfortunately, Becky gets stuck in a snowstorm and can’t go to the sleepover which leads Stephanie to decide to not go to the sleepover. Later on, her uncle Joey decides that he will take her instead even if he isn’t a woman but just wants to support Stephanie and wants her to go instead of being cooped up in her room sad. Stephanie realizes it's not the same as she wishes she had a mother that could actually go with her to the sleepover and runs back home because she no longer wants to go to the sleepover. A heart-to-heart moment happens between Stephanie and her older sister DJ after DJ tells Stephanie her experience at the sleepover and takes over as the big sister role and takes her to the sleepover instead. This shows that with family issues that they deal with, they will always have their back and always be there for you. Family to them is very important and that they would do anything for the family.

Families are extremely important to make us who we are. They help us in providing the first steps in education and instilling in us the moral values on why family is so important. Our family helps us in building up our personality and beliefs for the future. Ultimately, it is our family that shapes us and makes us who we are today. I believe that family is very important to everyone because they will always be with you and help you with daily problems. The importance of family has many strong values and is ultimately what holds the world together is through the family. The importance of family is very important and can help reshape our society to be better.