“Separation” – Compare and Contrast Essay

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“Separation” – Compare and Contrast Essay by Sharon Engelholm Separation is when one grows a separate self and comes to be defined as an individual. The act of separation from parents involves different kinds of thought and feelings both for the parent and the child. However, despite all the difficulties, separation does not mean to give up on the emotional attachment, but to separate geographically. Throughout life every child experiences the moment of separation from the familiar comforting zone called home as seen in the excerption from the story A Private Talk with Holly by Henry G. Felsen and the poem Wild Boy of the Road by Karen Hesse. Both texts explore the themes of parental hesitation and worries as well as children’s wish of pursuing their own life, though they differ in the point of view of parents and children when separation occurs. Parental hesitation and worries of letting children go is a natural part of separation. Though the process is not always easy and may include some conflicts, parents usually have the best intensions in mind. In A Private Talk with Holly the father finds it difficult to let go and imagine his life without his daughter Holly, “… Turn a back on home and walks out into the grown-up world forever.” The father conveys the separation feeling in the following words: turn a back, walks out and forever. Similarly, in the poem Wild Boy of the Road the parental hesitation is visible, “His mother is worrying about him… His mother is wishing her boy would come home.” The usage of the words worrying, boy and come home demonstrate the same feeling as in the story. Knowing that the child may struggle with different life issues alone is a difficult feeling for parents to contain. Furthermore, when a child is no longer surrounded by parental support and encouragement parents sense that their role has been reduced and

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