Sibling Relationships Research Paper

While reading a group of short stories I became intrigued by how drastically different the relationships between siblings varied from one story to the next. In a couple of the stories the relationship was obviously based off of the siblings’ home life, while in others the dynamics of the relationship were hard to understand. How do sibling relationships affect someone long term? What is, or is not, important in order for a relationship between siblings to prosper? Why do some sibling relationships fail while others thrive? These are some of the questions we will analyze in this paper. My goal here is to help others understand and form their own opinions about the relationships of siblings and how these relationships will affect the siblings …show more content…
Many of us in this day can imagine how the strain of a divorce or the harsh favoring of one child to a parent can cause resentment and distance between siblings. Strangely enough, these misfortunes and others like them sometimes cause siblings to have a stronger connection. In the case of the brothers from Sonny’s Blues, there were many hardships that could’ve caused the narrator and Sonny to grow apart; instead, they overcame these obstacles and used them to better understand each other. I believe that is the key to having a prosperous relationship with one’s sibling(s); you have to look past all the bad and see that they’re still your sibling, someone you love dearly. For example, the narrator could have turned his brother, Sonny, away after he was released from the facility he was in due to his addiction to heroin. Instead, he welcomed Sonny into his home like nothing had ever happened; although the narrator had his doubts, I believe that in his heart he trusted Sonny. In the end of the story he even goes as far as to say, “[…] and I understood, at last, that he could help us be free if we would listen.” (Baldwin 382) By this I believe he unearthed another importance to the prosperity of a sibling relationship: mutual, whole hearted trust. I believe that siblings must be able to rely on each other and trust one another with anything and everything in order to …show more content…
Sibling relationships affect someone long term depending on the type of relationship the siblings have; if there is resentment and hate the person will likely not lead a happy life. On the other hand, if the siblings have a good relationship there is a better chance for peace and happiness in a person’s life. There are so many things important to the prosperity of siblings’ relationships; including, but not limited to: feeling important, loved, and needed, along with having communication, love, and support. Whether or not a relationship between one’s brother or sister fails or thrives depends solely on them and whether they choose to cling to resentment or let go of the past and love their sibling for who they are as a person. All these things contribute to the relationship between siblings and how these relationships affect our individual