What do you think each of the siblings' different reactions to the passing of their father says about them? What do you think it says about grief in general?

What do you think each of the siblings' different reactions to the passing of their father says about them? What do you think it says about grief in general?

Junior saw their father's passing as more responsibility loaded onto him. Manse performs his last service for his father in that he made his casket. CeCe sees money that will help her out of her predicament as she mentally and literally left her family years ago. Tokey hopes that the death, however, horrible, will bring the siblings together again. Their reactions do say a lot about them. Junior is burdened with his sexual preferences and his responsibilities to his own family. Manse needs to do something with his hands to help him with his anger issues. CeCe needs to be forgiven for embezzlement and for leaving her family. Tokey only wishes for family and to know what she is going to do next.

Grief is individual, there is no one formula for grieving, no right way to do it. When family members die often there is relief, guilt, sadness, happiness, and/or resignation. There are as many questions left unanswered as are answered. There are absolutely thoughts by those left of "did I do the right thing?", "I should have said or done this," as well as "what's in it for me?"

I think everyone handles grief differently. And they each had their opinion on what would happen to them. Junior knew he would now be the head of the family. Manse knew that he would have to carry on for his father's woodworking. CeCe just wanted to be out of debt and Tokey as the baby of the family, just wanted to get to know her family better.

When King dies, his children are not done growing up. It is clear that they each loved him and that they wanted him to be proud of them, but had somehow let him down. Grief often forces us to reckon with our shortcomings, forgive ourselves and move on.

Each sibling experienced grief in a way that reflected his or her own relationship with King and with the other siblings. Junior struggled with his belief that as the eldest he would be required to take on more responsibility; Mance felt the responsibility of preserving the house and supporting Lisha and Henry; CeCe felt the guilt of ignoring the legal notices and her father’s request for help, while looking forward to a financial windfall to solve her problems; and Tokey hoped for renewed closeness with her siblings to assuage her sense of loss. In general, we each experience grief in our own individual way, depending on our complex relationship with the deceased and other family members

Each of the children had a different type of relationship with their father, and grieving is an intensely personal process. Their grief would naturally have looked different.

Each of them had a different relationship with King.. And he had different expectations of them. Each relationship was different than the others. And grief is reflected in how each related to their father. I don't think I could call me dad "King". I think that says something.

Grief is such a personal thing; we all react in deeply individualistic ways to losing someone we love and respect. At my age, I've been through many losses, and I've been surprised at times by my own reaction. Certainly here, Harris provides a range of human emotion: regret, guilt, pain, hurt. For anyone who has lost a parent (one or both), these feelings are real and heartrending. I think Harris does an excellent and humane job of expressing how death affects us all.

Grief is personal as patriciag has said. But I think the intensity of grief depends on the relationship between the person who died and those still alive. But I felt that the author did not give us much information as to the relationship King had with his kids, especially his daughters. I think they grieved for what they didn't have, but wanted.

Our relationships are formed by our interactions with someone as well as our observations. I kept thinking of the expression about how you might not remember what someone said but you will always remember how they made you feel. The father certainly was a man of few words but his interactions with his kids formed their feelings of love and pain. When his back story was revealed, his actions were explained and it changed feelings. I felt said that he kept so many secrets and his kids paid a price for sure.

The children in this book are very much like siblings in real life. Many times there is no way to predict how everyone is going to handle it. Unfortunately, if a parent still owns property, it can complicate everyone working together unless a parent has stipulated in the will that if children can not agree with what to do, then the property must be sold as soon as possible.