If These Wings Could Fly
Chapter Twenty-Five
by McCauley, KyrieChapter Twenty-Five explores the fragile, complex nature of a family home marked by cycles of damage and repair, both physical and emotional. The narrator reflects on a childhood memory when a violent outburst from their father shattered the kitchen environment, yet the broken cabinet door appeared mysteriously whole the next day. This paradox symbolizes the family’s experience of trauma and healing—though the house and its inhabitants endure pain, they also exhibit resilience, as if the fractures can somehow be mended or erased over time.
The chapter reveals the recurring pattern of the father’s anger erupting unpredictably, leaving the family in fear and confusion. Despite his apologies and promises to change, the narrator understands that these violent episodes are inevitable. The father’s love, though genuine, is entangled with his destructive behavior, creating a painful dynamic that binds the family together in a cycle of hope and disappointment. The narrator and their sibling, Campbell, learn to cope by silently observing the aftermath and internalizing the contradictions of their home life.
This narrative captures the bewildering coexistence of love and harm, highlighting how the children reconcile with the brokenness around them. The house, much like their family, is described as “unbroken the way a healed bone is,” implying that while scars remain, there is a form of wholeness in survival. The children’s perception fluctuates between denial and acceptance, as they witness the physical repairs to their home alongside the emotional fractures that persist beneath the surface.
Ultimately, the chapter delves into themes of resilience, memory, and the complexity of familial love in the face of dysfunction. It portrays how trauma can distort reality and challenge one’s understanding of safety and trust, yet also how individuals adapt by compartmentalizing pain. The story’s quiet observations and subtle magic suggest a yearning for stability amid chaos, while acknowledging that some wounds leave lasting marks that are never fully erased.
FAQs
1. How does the metaphor of the “house” relate to the family dynamics described in the chapter?
Answer:
The “house” in the chapter symbolizes the family unit and its emotional state. It is described as “unbroken the way a healed bone is,” indicating that although the family has endured trauma and damage—much like a bone that was once broken—they have managed to recover and appear whole again. However, the metaphor also suggests fragility beneath the surface, as the family’s stability is not perfect or permanent. This reflects the cycle of abuse and repair within the family: episodes of violence cause harm (the bone breaking), but there is an attempt to restore normalcy (the bone healing). The house’s ability to “repair the things he breaks” without lasting visible damage parallels how the family suppresses and hides the emotional and physical fractures caused by the father’s anger.2. What role does the memory of the cabinet door play in the narrator’s understanding of their family situation?
Answer:
The cabinet door incident serves as a powerful symbol of denial and the complexity of the narrator’s perception of their family life. When the father, in a fit of rage, slams the cabinet door and it appears to break but is somehow intact the next day, the narrator initially doubts their own eyes, assuming the noise was just the door hitting the wall. This moment illustrates how the children unconsciously erase or “magically” repair traumatic events to cope with the violence around them. It reflects the psychological defense mechanisms the narrator and Campbell use to maintain a sense of safety and normalcy, even when reality is painful and confusing. The memory resurfaces later as the abuse becomes more frequent, emphasizing the long-lasting impact of trauma and the difficulty in fully acknowledging it.3. Analyze how the author uses the father’s contradictory behavior to deepen the reader’s understanding of domestic abuse.
Answer:
The father’s contradictory behavior—his violent outbursts followed by apologies and expressions of love—adds complexity to the portrayal of domestic abuse. The chapter highlights that despite his love for the family, it is “never been enough to make him stop,” and, paradoxically, this love sometimes intensifies the violence. This duality captures the confusing and painful reality for victims who often experience a mix of fear, hope, and attachment. The father’s “splintering” into someone “unrecognizable” when angry illustrates how abuse can fracture a person’s identity and relationships. This nuanced depiction encourages readers to move beyond simplistic notions of abusers as purely evil and victims as easily able to leave, instead recognizing the emotional entanglement and cycles of abuse that complicate escape and healing.4. What coping mechanisms do the narrator and Campbell develop in response to their father’s violent episodes, and what does this reveal about their resilience?
Answer:
The narrator and Campbell cope with their father’s violent episodes by observing silently and mentally compartmentalizing the strangeness—such as the repaired walls and broken frames—into a “soft corner” of their minds where it can be ignored. This coping strategy of internalizing and distancing themselves from traumatic events reveals a form of resilience born out of necessity. It shows their ability to adapt psychologically to an unstable environment by normalizing the chaos and preserving their emotional survival. This quiet endurance, however, also underscores the heavy burden placed on children living with abuse, as they learn to suppress their feelings and confusion to maintain some semblance of safety and stability.5. How might the themes presented in this chapter be relevant for understanding real-world experiences of children living in abusive households?
Answer:
The themes of denial, cyclical violence, emotional complexity, and resilience in this chapter mirror many real-world experiences of children in abusive households. Children often struggle to reconcile love and fear, witnessing the same caregiver as both protector and threat. The metaphor of the “house” as both broken and healed reflects how families maintain outward appearances despite underlying trauma. The chapter also highlights how children may develop coping mechanisms such as dissociation or minimizing events to survive emotionally. Recognizing these themes can inform educators, counselors, and social workers about the nuanced realities of abuse, emphasizing the importance of sensitive support that acknowledges the child’s conflicting emotions and the difficulty in breaking free from abusive cycles.
Quotes
1. “THIS HOUSE IS UNBROKEN THE WAY a healed bone is.”
This opening line metaphorically introduces the chapter’s central theme of damage and repair, suggesting that while the house—and by extension the family—has been broken, it has also undergone a process of healing, albeit imperfect and marked by past trauma.
2. “Something was bent at an unnatural angle, pushed too far, until it snapped, or shattered. But then it got better again.”
This quote captures the cyclical nature of harm and recovery within the family dynamic, emphasizing that while damage occurs, there is also an attempt to restore or mend what was broken, setting the tone for the chapter’s exploration of resilience amid dysfunction.
3. “I grabbed Cammy and we ran to my room, hiding in the closet… But the cabinet door wasn’t broken. I tried to explain to Mom, in confused, urgent whispers, that the wood had cracked right at the hinges. But it was intact, like it had never broken… Cammy leaned in close and whispered, ‘It was magic.’”
This passage poignantly illustrates the child’s perspective on trauma and the surreal denial or erasure of visible damage, symbolized by the seemingly “unbroken” cabinet door, highlighting the confusion and coping mechanisms of children living with domestic violence.
4. “I know now that the last is never true. It will happen again. And he probably does love us, but it’s never been enough to make him stop. Instead, it makes it worse—his love for us. And ours for him. It makes it impossible to leave.”
This powerful reflection reveals the complex emotional entanglement in abusive family relationships, underscoring the painful reality that love does not guarantee safety or change, and that this paradox traps victims in cycles of abuse and hope.
5. “The house doesn’t make sense, but neither does the way he splinters into something unrecognizable when he’s mad. It’s incredible what you learn to accept when so few things make sense, and Campbell and I learned to observe it in silence. To note the patched walls and fixed frames, and then fold that strangeness into a soft corner of our minds, where it could be ignored.”
Concluding the chapter, this quote encapsulates the normalization of dysfunction and the emotional survival tactics developed by the children, emphasizing their silent endurance and the mental compartmentalization of trauma amidst an environment of ongoing instability.