Family Issues
In the story “Daughter of Invention” the daughter has to complete an essay for her English class. After working long and hard she finished her essay.
Before typing it she wanted to show it to her dad. After the dad reads the essay, he rips the paper and explains how the essay was disrespectful to her teachers. Keep In mind they are from the Dominican Republic. In all the daughters rage she called her dad Chapita. That name was the nickname of their hated dictator. He quickly chased after her in anger, but he was not very quick and she managed to retreat to her room.
Imagine being part of a very religious family. Your daughter has to write about something that has influenced her life. But when you start reading her essay she states how most religions are stupid and simply don’t make sense. Being a very religious person you take offense and you feel like your daughter has betray you and is belittling you. This was the impact the daughter had on her father. An essay can change anyone’s attitude.
The father felt disrespected just like anyone would feel. The father grew up in the Dominican Republic and so did the daughter. For the daughter to act like she’s better than her teacher is not acceptable to her father. The daughter masks and defends her essay by stating that “This is America, Papi, America!”All though this is true the dad has a code of “ethics” these were the ethics he used in the Dominican Republic, a much different place than America. For the daughter she is just speaking her mind.
Both the religious family and the Dominican republic family have something in common with everyone else; people can get extremely offended. It’s human nature to love and hate, we all think differently and need to consider other ideas and believes. The daughter in “Daughter of Invention”, wrote about her teachers and to her father thought what she wrote was disrespectful. There is no wrong way to write because we all have the ability to speak our minds, but you are still limited by others feelings. The impact the essay had on the fathers can be similar to someone belittling you about anything. You being told your new phone was a waste of money.
Even taking a simple compliment out of context. The disrespect the fathers had can be felt by you too. The fathers should not feel disrespected, maybe the daughters don’t know any better. The fathers should help them with their essays instead of feeling angry. If the fathers could of shown them how to write an essay that respects others yet is still meaningful, this whole problem of disrespect would of been avoided.
Both the daughters and the fathers should be understanding of how they feel.
