The Ways in Which Parents Affect Their Children's Adult Relationships

Helen’s relationship with her parents demonstrates the degree to which families of origin affect children well into their adult years. This is most clearly shown in the difficulty Helen has establishing solid relationships as an adult. She slowly reveals how her parents were unable to express love to her, to each other, and to her sister. They never said, “I love you,” and as such, the phrase feels awfully foreign in Helen’s mouth. She has not been shown how to be intimate or to express feelings, and as such, she is unable to effectively manage intimate relationships as an adult.

This difficulty with relationships can be seen at first in the cabin when Helen tends to Grant’s wound. The two have had a contentious relationship up until this point, but when he gets hurt...