Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Bond Between Siblings

In The Glass Castle, there are many relationships among people in the family and friends. However, the strongest bond is the sibling bond between Jeannette and Brian. They are very close in age and are always there for each other. Whenever Jeannette is in trouble, Brian always races to her rescue.  Every time the dad comes home drunk late at night, there is some mention of Brian making his way to him to try to prevent his dad from hurting anyone. One time, Jeannette and Lori "were sitting at Grandma's old upright piano trying to teach each other to play" when Rex stumbled in and "pulled over Grandma's china closet, sending her fine bone china crashing to the floor". Immediately, "Brian came running in. He tried to grab Dad's leg, but Dad kicked him off" (Walls 122). He is so caring about his siblings and makes sure that they’re protected. In fact, he later went on to become a part of the police force, to protect anybody from danger. However, this sort of behavior is not just because Brian is brave; According to studies by Dr. Björn Brembs, siblings have a coefficient relatedness of 50% in their genes, thus promoting altruistic behavior- when people act in a certain manner that may be risky for themselves but will benefit someone else. Since Brian and Jeannette are siblings, it would make sense that they would make sacrifices for each other. Jeffrey Kluger, the author of the book The Sibling Effect: What the Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us, has done some research about siblings and their relationships as well. He has concluded that conflicts with parents, including parental abuse, will strengthen siblings' relationships with each other. Kluger mentions in an interview, "When your parents, who are the anchors you're counting on the most, are falling down on the job, siblings look to each other and find ways to pull together, because the last thing you can afford to see fractured at that point is the unit among yourselves." Jeannette and Brian have both suffered through their parents' crazy habits and abusive behavior, and it has made their relationship all the more stronger. Siblings will always be there for each other. There isn't anything they wouldn't do for the other. Jeannette and Brian are no exception to this correlation; they have, and will always be, right there for one another. 

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