Parents Influence In Flannery O Connor's Where The Apple Falls

Where the Apple falls:
How a Parent can impact a Child’s Development A child’s first influence is that of its parents. Early life skills are learned through parent interaction and help to form the child into the adult he or she will become. The way in which a parent communicates with and treats a child can have a large impact on his or her self-esteem. Parental morals, values, and opinions are often passed down to the child. According to psychologist Richard Weissbourd, a child’s development is shaped by many elements, but the most dominant element is parental influence. Weissbourd also suggests that parents who place their child’s happiness above all else could adversely affect both the child’s ability to care for others as well as his …show more content…
He prides himself on the fact that he is nothing like her when, in fact, he may be more like her than he realizes. Through Julian’s relationship with his mother, O’Connor uses irony, character study, and setting to show that parents may have a greater influence on their children’s development than they realize. O’Connor uses irony as an instrument to probe into the similarities between Julian and his mother. A closer examination of the story reveals he possesses many of his mother’s traits. Julian and his mother are underachievers; she appears content living in a dilapidating neighborhood while he is of the mind that there is no future for him (573). Both are racist; she is fearful of riding the bus now that blacks are permitted to sit in the front and he only desires to associate with those he perceives as affluent blacks. His mother believes that blacks were better off as slaves and “they should rise, yes, but only on their side of the fence” (570). Julian thinks that he would have been better suited than his mother to have lived her childhood; he would have appreciated it more (571). Julian’s mother had known and interacted with blacks …show more content…
Julian’s mother failed to notice the depression and resentment within Julian, therefore, the source of his unhappiness was not addressed. Through Julian’s eyes the reader senses his mother is rather shallow and self-centered. Had they dealt with the source of Julian’s unhappiness, he may have become a well-rounded individual instead of the self-centered egotistical person he is. Parental influence is first and foremost the most important element in a child’s development. To have a well-rounded child, a parent must not place that child’s happiness above her or her own. It is imperative that the parent recognizes his or her moral values and character traits are passed to the child. However, a parent should also identify excessive anger and attempt to resolve any outstanding issues by discussing it with the child. This could alleviate further family problems. To ignore signs of distress in a child could cause the issue to fester within that child. This is the scenario with Julian and his mother; she ignores Julian’s anger and scorn and it festers within him. A parent can only hope that once his or her child reaches early adulthood, the child will acknowledge the parent’s good and bad characteristics, as well as recognize those same qualities within him or herself. That annoying trait of a parent may be nothing