Hunger, written by Lan Samantha Chang, is a short story that shares the story of a family troubled by the desire for a better life. The story is told from the point of view of Min – the mother – and it is she who remembers the daily life of the family. In this story, Tian's thirst for recognition can be seen as his desire for success overshadows his duty as a father. Tian's thirst for recognition leads the family to its downfall as each member of the family chooses to gain recognition from Tian rather than choosing to bond with each other. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay By focusing more on his own dreams, Tian fails to establish a sincere connection with his family and therefore breaks up the family. He chooses to work towards his own dream and, in doing so, fails to see his own family's desire for recognition. Tian, ​​from the beginning of the book, desires to succeed through his music saying that there is "one thing a person must do...even more than what his family wants him to do" (28). He wants to be recognized. His desire to be recognized motivated him to practice very early on. Tian is motivated to the point that he “focus[s] his desires on another part of the house [...] that would be his music room” (15). Focusing on the music room, he fails to recognize his own family. Instead of finding motivation from his family, he is instead motivated to work in the music room because it represents the place where he can perfect his music. This desire to be recognized is so strong that it blinds him to his family's desire to be recognized by him. Rather than focusing on his duty as a father, he concentrates on his recitals because “the smallest issues [of the recital are] significant and demand[s] his private concentration (17). It is this lack of focus on helping one's family that acts as a catalyst for the family's downfall. As the characters try to gain recognition from Tian, ​​they forget their duties as mother and child to bond with each other and this ultimately leads to the family's downfall. In Min's case, she could not connect with her daughters and fulfill her duty as a mother because she focused all her attention on Tian. As for Anna and Ruth, they fail to establish sisterly bonds because the difference in their skills acts as a gap that cannot be bridged. In Min's attempt to gain recognition from Tian, ​​she fails to fulfill her duties as a mother. She focuses on Tian the same way Tian focuses on his music: ignoring others and only focusing on the things that can make him happy. By focusing all his attention on Tian, ​​Min forgets to acknowledge his daughters. From the moment Anna was born, Min did not recognize her as she "turned her head towards the wall, feeling scared and alone..." because she felt like she had failed in her attempt to obtain recognition from Tian (30). ). Even then, Min already fails to fulfill her duties as a mother by not showing love to her newborn because she was too focused on Tian's opinion of her. As Min continues to try to gain recognition from Tian, ​​she also continues to fail in her role as a mother. When asked why she didn't intervene the night Ruth was told to continue playing the violin even though she was in tears, Min couldn't answer and even thought "Ruth was so spoiled that she felt this dismantling might be good for [Ruth]” (60). With this thought in mind, Min tries tojustifying why she didn't intervene by trying to justify Tian's actions. This plays a role in the family's downfall as she is not able to speak up to protect her daughters from Tian nor stand up for herself and act like a mother should. Min fails to be a mother figure to Anna and Ruth as she focuses on gaining recognition from Tian; but she is not able to get it because Tian is focusing on his music. Tian not only shrugs at Min, but he also doesn't seem to acknowledge Anna's presence. As a child, Tian “treats her with tenderness, but with detachment,” foreshadowing what awaits her as she grows up (33). Like Min, Tian couldn't connect with Anna as he treated her in a "detached" manner because he was too focused on his music. While Tian focuses on his own desire to be recognized through his music, he ignores Anna and fails to be a father figure. This causes Anna to focus all her attention on gaining recognition from Tian. She strives to obtain his recognition by trying to please him through her rehearsal sessions with him and going so far as to try "to learn the second violin part of a double Bach concerto" because it is “[her] hope that [she] and Ruth could one day play it together” (55). Even though she knows that she cannot gain recognition from her father due to his limitations with the violin, she still chooses to devote herself to it rather than focusing on establishing a sisterly bond with Ruth . It is because of Tian's failure to be a father figure that Anna has also failed to be a figure Ruth can look up to. Anna, like her father, is focused solely on recognizing that she is ignoring Ruth. As Tian's thirst for recognition grows, so does Anna's, and it is precisely this reason that leads to the family's downfall. Instead of connecting with Ruth, Anna speaks ill of Ruth. She describes Ruth as having a “horrible tone” (58) when she plays the violin. She further said in a bitter voice that "[Ruth] had been terribly spoiled" to justify Tian's action of forcing her to continue playing even though she cried. This bitterness towards Ruth arises because Tian focuses all his attention on Ruth - and not on Anna - because he believes that she is the means to gain recognition for his music. But just as Tian does not recognize his own family, his talent as a musician is not recognized as he describes himself as being "left out" by the university (33). When Tian finds out he's been kicked out of college, his desire to be recognized slowly begins to die down, but reignites when he sees what a natural violinist Ruth is. Seeing how natural Ruth is with a violin, he imposes his desire on Ruth and this once again blinds her from her family's desires. This is seen when he refuses Ruth's suggestion to "do something else" when she is tired of playing and later tells him "You cry as much as you want!... You cry!" But... play! One, two and three and one, two and three. (58-59). Choosing to ignore Ruth's suggestion to "do something else" shows that Tian fails to recognize her attempt to be recognized and heard. Tian continues to ignore his own family to achieve his own dream and it is this desire that leads not only to his own downfall, but also to the downfall of the family. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay While Tian craves recognition, the women crave recognition from Tian and this ends up destroying the family as each character focuses on gaining recognition..