Summary
The Golden Dart is a story given by Elizabeth Winthrop about a father who was isolated from his family after getting a back injury. The father doesn’t have a healthy relationship with his kids because he shouts at them and degrades them. One day, Emily’s dad wanted to go fishing and chooses Emily over other children. Emily is the only kid that is allowed to stay near him while he is working. She wasn’t able to attach the fishing flies on her first try under her father’s instructions. However, Emily does it right on her second attempt. She was a teenager at this time, so she didn’t enjoy the work. Emily preferred spending time with her friends dancing and smoking. One day, she takes a pair of her dad’s fishing flies without his knowledge and wears them as ear rings so that her friends could see. Her father was very disappointed when he found out what she had done.
Theme
Elizabeth is trying to show the reader the negative effects of parents not communicating or listening to their kids. Also, when a parent is mean their children, it impacts negatively on the future of their children. Parents should know that every child has an inborn gift. It is thus not advisable for parents to choose what they want their children to do for their future. As we can see in this story, the children don’t have a good relationship with their dad. They get detached from him. It is very evident from Emily’s statement: “I took great care not to bounce or learn or even breathe too much noise as to refrain from disturbing him” (108). When parents are mean to their kids, they end up living in fear. They are thus not able to effectively communicate with other people even when they become adults.
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Response
Parents should ensure that their kids feel safe and happy whenever they are at home. The best way to do this is by making sure that there are no unrealistic limits at home. When a parent comes up with too many restrictions, kids lose closeness and trust. Emily’s dad gets trapped in the house due to the back injury. Since he doesn’t have a good relationship with the kids, they are scared of him thus can’t keep him company at this difficult moment. He also doesn’t show any respect when talking to his wife. Thus they don’t have any strong family attachment. His anger towards the kids and wife makes the family remain disintegrated. When parents show love to their children, they grow up and learn to love others.
