The main concept of these short stories is family. When something is written about family there is bound to be conflict because there is always disagreement in a family. Some might even call them dysfunctional because they do not operate like a normal family. The stories “Brother Dear” by Bernice Friesen, and “The Charmer”, by Budge Wilson, both focus on dysfunctional families; this can be shown through conflict, characters, and theme. One of the ways dysfunctional families is shown is through conflict. In “Brother Dear” there are several conflicts, one being Jack versus Greg. Throughout the story, you can clearly see Jack's disapproval for Greg. Greg stands for everything Jack does not believe in. When Greg tells his father that he did not …show more content…
In “Brother Dear” one of the most predominant themes is adolescence/immaturity. This is shown through Sharlene. Sharlene is too young and immature to understand what Greg is going through. He comes back from school with a different look every time. She says she never know what Greg she will get. As a result of her adolescence and immaturity, she will tease him. Another theme is rebellion. Over the course of the story, we see examples of Greg’s rebellion against what his parents want. “‘Excuse me,” Greg says through his teeth, gets up and walks out the door.’” ( Friesen 31). Once his family finds out about him missing exams Greg leaves the house and decides to go back to his girlfriend. The next theme is family. “Brother Dear” shows the hardships of maintaining a well functioning family. This particular family has lots of trouble accepting certain members the way they are. They want everyone, like Greg, to act a certain way. The story “The Charmer” shares the same themes. Although these characters have reactions to these themes. In this story, Winnifred is the immature and adolescent one. She sees what Zachary is doing to their family but she cannot help but still think he is a hero. “By the time I was thirteen, Zachary’s halo was dimming, but I still adored him.”. (Wilson 104). The next theme, rebellion, applies to Zachary. He stole money from wallets, dumped out toolboxes in his fits of rage and, crashed his parent’s car. His whole life has been him doing bad things and breaking the rules. The final theme is family. The family is slowly being torn apart. First Lizzie dies and then Zachary leaves his family leaving a mark on the family