Family

Family appears in many stories in varying forms, having been a favorite topic among traditional short-story writers throughout the twentieth century. The representations of family tend to fall into one of three categories. They are family as a positive influence, family as a negative influence, and families that have been lost. Stories that show family as a positive influence tend to be less common than the other two categories. However, in this collection, several stories represent the positive power of families: Louise's father in "The Fat Girl," for example, who supports her no matter what she looks like; the narrator in "Rock Springs," who is trying to be a good father to his daughter, as best as he can; the mothers in "Home" and "Talk of Heroes," who accept their grown daughters returning home; or the controlling but supportive mother in "Rules of the Game," who is well-meaning...