The Dying Family...A Group Of Strangers

J.H. Plumb’s writing style happens to interest me very much. I love how he uses a variety of descriptive words to pull the reader into the essay, and he tries to create images of what is going on. I enjoyed his use of one modern day family as his observations of the weakened family unit in today’s culture. He views them playing and laughing so obliviously happy, not knowing that they represent the end of the tight, loving family unit that once existed. He then proceeds to takes us on a tour through history, and the evolution of family and its values. Plumb talks about how the government has taken a piece of the responsibility on families away, and instead of parents passing on their knowledge and trades, there are strangers teaching their children. This essay made me realize these strangers spend more time with the children of today’s culture than the parents themselves. How is it possible we are all so pleasantly unaware of our lack of communication between generations? The "family" has become a very lost word, as the greed for material possessions has taken parents away from home to work longer days leaving the children in the hands of strangers.