After finishing the play, Fences by August Wilson in English class, we had a class discussion about what we thought of the play, and we had different topics to discuss. The question asked was; "Why is abuse cyclical? How can the cycle stop?” Abuse is cyclical because depending on how a person is raised they can end up with the same thoughts and ideas as their parents. The way a person is raised can really influence the way they raise their own children in the future because when they were growing up, the ideas and thoughts they have as adults are they only ideas they grew up with. Trying to stop the cycle, of course, is a good idea. Stopping the cycle of abuse in a family is the best way to keep a family together. Being a better parent than “your” parent’s were to you, means that you are willing to stop the cycle and you want to be a better person. How to stop the cycle? Well…one can create their own thoughts and ideas, aside from what their parent’s believe in.
Abuse can be defined as verbal abuse or physical abuse. Physical abuse is way worse than verbal, granted they both hurt, but they can affect each person differently. Taking verbal abuse as a child will stay with one forever because then one can grow up an abundant amount of hate and anger and can use that against someone else or to a group of people. Physical abuse will also stay with one forever because there will always be that fear, even as an adult. After being physically abuse, I can try to imagine a person obeying everything someone has told them because they don’t want to make a wrong move and the person who was physically abused as a child will think that every person around them is just the same as their parents’ were when they were growing up.
Getting abused in any form is terrible, and it’s up to any one person, to become their own person and to stop the cycle that occurs in their family. Being the bigger person can be challenging, but in the end, it’s the right thing to do.
