Parenting In The Short Story 'Bandit' By Molly Brodak

“As your kids grow they may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel” (Heath). Parents have more influence on their children than anyone else in this world. Most parents aspire to have the best impact that they can on their children, but some do not necessarily succeed. In the short story entitled “Bandit” by Molly Brodak, the narrator’s father, Joseph has a hard time succeeding in having a positive impact on his daughter, Molly. He actually has the opposite of a positive impact on her. Parenting can be a very difficult job, but the worst thing that someone can possibly do to their child is abandon them. Whether it is intentional or it is not is not important. Parents are supposed to be the ones who guide and influence their children throughout their lives. If a parent is unable to be in their child’s life, such as if they become incarcerated, …show more content…
The research on parent-child personal visits states that it will improve the reunification of the parent and the child when they get released from prison. However, many children do not get to visit their parents while they are in captivity. Tying back to the short story “Bandit”, Molly deals with the predicament that she does not talk to her father as often as she would like to. While Joseph is in prison they communicate via email. She states how she did not get an email from him on Thanksgiving and how they have not communicated at all in the past month. Molly attempts to forget about Joseph and when she seems to be succeeding in this she states, “The day passes. I try to forget about him. Then, I do forget about him. Days slip by, weeks. Almost a month later I receive a Christmas card from his girlfriend” (Brodak 298). This is an example of how much no communication can distance a child from their