Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Writing and Rhetoric
Reader 1
Kimberly Drake
Reader 2
Glenn Simshaw
Reader 3
Carmen Sanjuan-Pastor
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2023 Annika C Johnson
Abstract
After growing up with an abusive, alcoholic, narcissist for a father, I did not realize how abnormal my perception of family was until I studied abroad in Spain at age 19. The healthy family dynamics of my hosts–a Sevillan family of five who mirrored the structure of my childhood family unit of Mom, Dad, my sister, brother, and me–challenged my notion of home as a place of survival and of paternal figures as monsters. This experience led me to the questions: Do patriarchal societies inherently create monsters that we have to face or are the monsters the exception? How do paternal figures become monstrous? And in the end, does that mean they deserve forgiveness?
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Annika, "Of Monsters and Men: Deconstructing Patriarchal Relationships While Redefining "Family" in Seville" (2023). Scripps Senior Theses. 2067.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2067
