How are the parents shown to be at fault in both Your Shoes and Growing up?

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Year 11 Assessment on short stories – higher tier

Q        How are the parents shown to be at fault in both Your Shoes and Growing _        up?

        Even though Growing up is written in 3rd person and Your shoes in 1st, both stories are told through the eyes of the demoralized parents; this emphasizes the delusion of the mother in Your shoes and also of the father in Growing up: similarly both negatively portray the children involved, as a negative part of the parents’ lives.

        There are striking resemblances in Your shoes and Growing up; in reflection to the parents deluded and self pitiful ways. In light of the context of the 2 short stories it is clear that the parents are all made to be thought of as negative role models to their children: this is evident in the actions and input their offspring have in the stories.

        The main similarity of the two stories is the negative mentality of both parents. In Growing up the father has a very negative view of his daughters resulting in a very negative output from girls, in relation to their father. Not only has this resulted in a conclusive poor relationship between the father and his children, evident from the constant portrayal of breakdown of communication

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                “she answered only by a slight wriggle of her behind”

but also of the fathers distancing from his own daughters

                        “he wanted urgently to get away, to escape.”

This has a very strong effect on the reader meaning that instead of them empathizing with the father, they are instead empathizing with the children as it is them who are being effected by their fathers absence. Conversely in Your shoes the audience is more likely to empathize more with the mother than with the child. The mother’s desperation is clearly shown and is represented by the metaphorical use of the shoes ...

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