Paragraph Evaluation

Sibling rivalry is a major theme in the novel, Montana 1948, between the Hayden brothers’. Sibling rivalry is a normal part of having a sibling and in our novel David’s father Wesley and, his uncle Frank struggle with each others’ presence because each of them tries to be better than the other at something and tries to compete for their father’s love. We find out that uncle Frank is the favorite to their father and is seen as the better son overall because of his war hero status, and being a better looking person. Of course Wesley feels inside that this is unfair and this is exhibited in David’s flashback, of Uncle Frank’s welcome home party where everyone in the county showed up to celebrate his return and him being a war hero. While the celebration goes on Frank is called up by his father in front of the entire crowd and his father speaks very highly of him while Wesley stands by and watches with young David, our narrator. Sadly sibling rivalry can result in sadness for one or more sibling when the other seems favored in their parents’ eyes, this can be very hurtful to the children. In summation, sibling rivalry has positive and negative influences on the children and it affects them psychologically.


Sibling rivalry takes place in all families where there is more than one child, children feel that one or the other could be their parents’ favorite, as seen in our novel this takes place in David’s flashback when he is discussing his uncle’s “welcome back from the army” celebration. But of course this like many other sibling rivalry problems can be solved by “walk(ing) away before someone loses their temper,”(Henry, 2008) and just trying to coexist with your sibling. Sibling rivalry is most prevalent in our novel between David Hayden’s father, Wesley Hayden, and his uncle Frank a doctor. Frank was always his father’s favorite and because of this he was viewed as being perfect. Our narrator David even admits this when he compares Frank to his father and admits that his uncle is nice and charismatic and seemed like a greater man than his father in many ways. Wesley felt that he was not seen as being the perfect son by his father and he over time accepted that; however, same form of sibling rivalry between David’s father and David’s uncle is still prevalent in the our novel. This happens a lot in the world of sibling rivalry, but strangely enough “It’s a normal part of family life.”(Henry, 2008) According to that quote the Hayden brothers’ behavior is completely normal and it occur frequently in families and in people of all ages. Finally, it is a good idea to avoid conflict with your sibling in general and to just try, and get along because after all you do have to live with your sibling.


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