“What Family Really Means”
Frank Bruni
The New York Times
Oct. 24, 2015
In this week’s article, Frank Bruni discusses what makes a
family a family. He ties this into the
recent gathering of Roman Catholic leaders called the Synod of Bishiops on the
Family. This was a meeting of Roman Catholic Bishops in order to discuss the
church’s views on divorce, remarriage, unmarried couples, and same sex couples.
However, unlike many of Bruni’s other articles, the focus was not on the
current event. As I was reading this, I felt as if this topic was a lot more
personal to Bruni. He related his life to his view of what constitutes a
family.
Bruni begins this article with an allusion to his friend
Elli. Elli has never given birth and has never adopted, however she has many
children. She helps college-age boys from Zimbabwe apply to colleges in the US
and keeps in contact with them throughout their years. They gather at her house
for holidays. They consider themselves family. By alluding to this specific
example, Bruni defies traditional ideas of family. He specifically opens up the
article with “My friend Elli has never given birth, never adopted never taken
primary responsibility for an infant, a toddle or an adolescent.” After reading
this, you may believe that there is no possibility for her to be considered a
mother. However, Bruni then writes “But on the far side of 65, she finds
herself playing the role of mother… By any definition of the word that matters,
she and her kids are a family.” This
allusion was very effective in that Bruni personally knew Elli, so it appeals
to ethos. It also opens up the article with many stereotypes of a family
already defied.
