Mr. WoodrowSeminar 2Jerry Brunetti11/21/13The Clownfish and the Sea AnemoneParents have a special relationship with their children.
They are in fact genetically related and responsible for their offspring. But more than that, parents often have an investment within their children; usually financially and emotionally. In exchange, parents often want their children to make good decisions and grow into virtuous and successful adults. Have you ever heard your mother or father ask you; “ Is that so much to ask for?” This is similar to the symbiotic relationship between clownfish and sea anemone; where the sea anemone provides protection for the clownfish and in return the clownfish provides nutritious fertilizer for the sea anemone.
However being a parent is understandably more difficult than being a clownfish. After all the late night runs to the craft store for a last minute project, thousands of dollars spent on dental care, and every moral lesson taught, one would think that the hardworking and dedicated parent would deserve some “ fertilizer” from their child. They would expect a hardworking, straight teethed, and moral child. But this of course does not always happen, simply because children make mistakes. To try to make sure that this peculiar relationship stands firm through these issues, parents translate their good intentions into a style of parenting. There are two types of parenting; one based on the imposition of rules and regulations and one based on the instilling of values.
This paper addresses these two styles of parenting as exemplified through the play titled The Brothers. The Brothers is a story about two fathers and each of their sons, and issues that both the fathers and the sons have to deal with. Though the two fathers, who happen to be brothers, have somewhat different parenting styles, one style seems to find the most success. The father of this style finds a way to turn his relationship with his child into a symbiotic one, not.
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