The Skin of our Teeth/ ordinary people

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Being an Ordinary Person by the Skin of Your Teeth All people have to overcome problems in their lives. Some people obsess over their problems and are unable to move on and achieve happiness. Then there are the people who are able to go on and live better more rewarding lives. Ordinary People and The Skin of Our Teeth are both great examples of how people are given the chance to start their lives over. People who are able to deal with family issues, learn from past mistakes, keep hope alive, and realize that death is not the answer are able to have a new beginning and essentially have the life they desire. A family is supposed to help with problems, not create them. A family is supposed to make a person feel loved and accepted, but sometimes a person can feel as if their family is their worst enemy. When Henry is arguing with his father after their war he says, “I have no mother. Get it through your head. I don’t belong here. I have nothing to do here. I have no home” (Wilder 111). Henry is at a constant battle with his family. He feels abandoned and secluded by the ones that are supposed to always be there. He feels as if they never truly loved him or accepted him as a part of this family. “We’re a family, aren’t we? And a family turns inward toward itself in grief; it does not go in separate directions, pulling itself apart” (Guest 117). One should be able to turn to their family when they have a problem. The problems shouldn’t tear the family apart. Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People and Henry Antrobus from The Skin of Our Teeth both have deep family troubles, but they are able to finally communicate to their parents their true feelings through an argument at Christmas and an actual war. “Communication. The bridge between the distances” (Guest 172). There is nothing a person can do about what already happened, except learn from what just

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