Ahli Fox March 4th,2019
ENG 333-160W Prof. De Vasconcelos
Theme of Absence in Monique
No one has a perfect family or a “perfect” anything. Simply because perfection does not exist. There is a flaw in everything and in everyone with the exception of the Supreme Being. However, one’s life can come very close to it. Success, family, love, and happiness are what one sees as a life of mere perfection. Unfortunately, Monique of the novella Monique by Luisa Coelho was short in receiving such a blessing of a loving family, success and happiness she instead received betrayal, loneliness, and absence of a stable and functional home. Being a child surrounded by love happiness and success, leads to a better development of the child along with a prosperous future. Yet, with Monique, the absence of one’s parents in a child’s life can lead one to live a life in isolation and dysfunction.
Being a father is an enormous responsibility. Many sacrifices have to be made to support, care for and raise a child. Fathers are mandatory in a child’s life to ensure proper growth and development. Now, if such a significant figure in a child’s life is not present or is absent frequently the child may likely grow with an unhealthy sense of a stable relationship. Monique states, “You know, Alexis, this is what keeps me alive – the power of words. Words live forever they point out the right direction and express feelings simply without removing what complexity exists in them. The words you were never able to find explain your suffering – the absence of those words prevented us from growing together” (14) this quote clearly illustrates the struggle between Monique and her partner Alexis. Due to the absence of Monique’s father and mother, Monique grew as a very lonely child. Now as an adult Monique has a hard time adjusting from only being in her own company to sharing and being with someone other than herself. A parent’s presence is crucial to a child’s development.
Family vacations are a great way of bonding and enlisting priceless family values upon a child. However, Monique’s father thought otherwise. According to Monique, “When I was born, my father wasn’t home. He was exploring the world as usual.” (6) Monique’s father was constantly leaving and gone for so long that he missed the birth of his first ...
