The Most Unwanted Blessing A sibling relationship is hard to describe in a single word other than the word confusing. They are the few individuals in life that you classify as the walking devil. The one that eats the food you had in the fridge with your name on it, the one that steals your charger in the middle of the night leaving you with no phone battery for the next day; they are the only ones in life with the single most goal — to irritate you beyond words. On the flip side, their presence comforts you; they know exactly what you are feeling without you saying a word; they inspire you, and above, all they are your best friends. Although some may argue that they wish their parents would have never had children besides themselves, having …show more content…
Kevin Wilson, the author of Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, illustrates several relationships throughout the short stories in his collection. One of the stories “Birds in the House,” puts into perspective problems stemming from an unhealthy sibling relationship. Throughout this short story, the main character, Smokey, watches his father and his uncles brutally fight over their childhood home by making origami birds as his grandmother wished. The story shows obviously that the brothers have a shattered relationship. Smokey gives different scenarios about how the family does not get along, and how every year’s family reunion ends with fist fighting, police, and negative statements like “see each other in hell”. In fact, Smokey shows that the brothers are so negative around each other he states, “None of the brothers look happy with the situation, uneasy and wary of their close proximity to one another. They have shown up only because of their will” (Wilson 57). The relationship between the brothers is evidently an unhealthy one, and clearly shows that with a sibling relationship like this, it only affects personality, communication, and decision making for the worse. However, the way the siblings were brought up together has a huge impact on the relationship between each other. Dorothy Sailor, states that “The quality of the relationship between each child and parent and between parents affects the sibling relationships.” Meaning that the quality of relationship between siblings go hand in hand with the quality of relationship of the parents. Smokey stated that “The four boys were born, and he sat on the front porch and sipped whisky and she gradually learned to understand what it was he was saying, learned the things he said weren’t as nice as they had