Hunger, written by Lan Samantha Chang, is a short story that tells the story of a family tormented by the desire for a better life. The story is told from the point of view of Min, the mother, and she is the one who remembers the family's daily life. Within this story, Tian's hunger for recognition can be seen as his desire for success overshadows his duty as a father. Tian's hunger for recognition leads the family to ruin as each family member chooses to gain recognition from Tian rather than choose to establish a connection with each other. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Focusing more on his dreams, Tian fails to establish any sincere connection with his family and thus destroys the family. He chooses to work towards his dream and, in the process, fails to see his family's desire for recognition. Tian, ​​from the beginning of the book, wishes to be successful 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 soon motivates him to practice. He is motivated to the point of “focusing his desires on a different part of the house […] this would be his music room” (15). of music, he fails to recognize his family Instead of finding motivation in his family, he is instead motivated to work in the music room as it represents the place where he can perfect his music blind to his family's desire to be recognized by him. Rather than focus on his duty as a father, he concentrates on his recital pieces because "the smaller matters [of the recital piece are] significant and require his private concentration ( 17). It is this lack of focus on helping his family that serves as the catalyst for the family's downfall. As the characters try to gain recognition from Tian, ​​they forget their duties as mothers and children to establish bonds with each other and this ultimately leads to the ruin of the family. In Min's case, she has failed to establish any bond with her daughters and fulfill her duty as a mother as she focuses all her attention on Tian. As for Anna and Ruth, they fail to form any sibling bonds as the difference in their abilities 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. He focuses on Tian the same way Tian focuses on his music: ignoring others and focusing solely on things that can make him happy. Focusing all his attention on Tian, ​​Min forgets to recognize his daughters. From the moment Anna was born, Min has not recognized her as she "turns her head towards the wall, feeling scared and alone..." because she feels as if she has failed in her attempt to gain recognition from Tian (30 ) . Even at this time, Min already fails to fulfill her duties as a mother by not showing love to her newborn baby, because she was too focused on Tian's opinion of her. While Min continues to try to gain recognition from Tian, ​​she also continues to fail in her role as a mother. Faced with the question of why she had not intervened the night Ruth was told to continue playing the violin even though she was in tears, Min could not answer and even thought that "Ruth was so spoiled that [she] felt that this removal could bepositive for [Ruth]” (60). Having this thought in his head, Min is trying to justify why he didn't interfere by trying to justify Tian's actions. This plays a role in the family's downfall as she is unable to speak up to protect her daughters from Tian, ​​nor is she able to defend herself and act as a mother should. Min fails to be a mother figure to both Anna and Ruth as she focuses on gaining Tian's recognition; but he is unable to get it as Tian is focusing on his music. Tian not only shrugs off Min, but also doesn't seem to acknowledge Anna's presence. As a child, Tian "treats her affectionately, but in a detached manner" foreshadowing what will happen when she grows up (33). Like Min, Tian fails to connect with Anna as he treats her in a "detached manner" because he is too focused on his music. With Tian focused on his desire to be recognized through his music, he ignores Anna and fails to be a father figure. This leads Anna to focus all her attention on gaining Tian's recognition. She strives to gain his recognition by attempting to please him during practice sessions with him and even going so far as to try to "learn the second violin part of a Bach double concerto" because it is "[her] hope that Ruth and [ she] could play it together someday” (55). Even though she knows she cannot gain her father's recognition due to her limitations with the violin, she still chooses to pursue him rather than focus on creating a bond between brothers and sisters. with Ruth. It is because of Tian's failure to be a father figure that Anna has also failed to become a figure that Ruth can look up to. Anna, like her father, focuses solely on gaining recognition for the fact that she ignores Ruth. As Tian's hunger for recognition grows, so does Anna's, and it is this very reason that leads to the family's downfall, Anna instead speaks ill of Ruth. He describes Ruth as having a “horrible tone” (58) when playing the violin. He also says in a bitter voice that "[Ruth] had been terribly spoiled" to justify Tian's action of forcing her to continue playing even though she was crying. This bitterness towards Ruth appears because Tian focuses all his attention on Ruth - and not Anna - as he believes she is the way to get his music recognized. But just as Tian fails to recognize his own family, his talent as a musician goes unrecognized as he claims to have been “passed over” by the university (33). When Tian learns that he has been fired from the university, his desire to be recognized slowly begins to die down, but it reignites when he sees what a natural violinist Ruth is. Seeing how natural Ruth is on the violin, he forces his wish on Ruth and this once again blinds him to his family's desires. This is seen when he rejects Ruth's suggestion to “do something else” because she gets tired of playing and further tells her later “Cry all you want!...Cry! But... play! One, two and three... and one, two and three." (58-59). Choosing to ignore Ruth's suggestion to “do something else” demonstrates that Tian fails to recognize her attempt to be recognized and heard. Tian continues to ignore his family to achieve his dream and it is this desire that leads not only to his downfall, but to the family's downfall. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay While Tian is hungry for recognition, the women long to be recognized by Tian and this ends up destroying the family as each character focuses..