" The Evolution of My Brother" Quotation Reflection

“... I ignored him and pretended I only cared about the new sweater-skirt combos for autumn. When he wouldn't leave, I told him, “You have to.”
“No.” He folded a slice of ham in his mouth. “No, I don't.”
I nudged his shoulder. “Yes, you do,” I said, bumping the other side of ham out of hands.
“Hey,” he said, butting his head against my stomach. We started using knuckles, fingernails, pillows, magazines. He kicked my leg and I struck his cheek, the ham side. His mouth opened and big fat tears slid down his cheeks and into his open ham mouth. Seeing him like that made me feel like a monster. “Spit it out,” I begged.”


“ “No. Say it like you did the other day. Ma-ma-ma-myy Jenneee.”
“ Ma-ma-ma-myy Jenneee,” he repeated after me, completing another perfect circle. It wasn't the same. He was growing up. He was growing out of his speech disorder. From that point on, in order to be his, I had to request it.”

In the first quote, it clearly seems that Jenny doesn't really care for her brother. She doesn't want him in her room, and she argues with him quite harshly, even though he's considerably younger than her. It reaches the point where it escalates and she smacks him on his cheek. This irrational act of violence towards her brother shows Jenny’s “evil” side. Jenny is the older sibling, she should’ve acted more reasonable and understanding, all her little brother wanted was her attention. It was just disheartening to see the severity of emotions that came from her over an innocent thing her brother was doing--all he was doing was standing there. What was interesting about this quote was that in the end, Jenny’s conscience gets to her and she realizes that she did take things too far and helps her little brother. She helps him get the ham at of his mouth and Jenny’s compassion and kindness towards him stand out.


This sense of caring for her brother falls into the other quote where Jenny's talking about her brother’s speech disorder. She likes how he calls for her and so she makes him repeat the way he said earlier, but she realizes that he's sort of growing out of that habit. This makes her sad because she wants him to always want her attention and love her unconditionally, without her having to put any effort. This is interesting because, in the first quote, she clearly despised his attention and wanted him gone but here, in the second quote, that’s all she wants. She wants him to adore her and want her. There is also a sense of fear from Jenny in the second quote because it almost seems that Jenny always expected her brother to always want her and do things just for her without her having to do anything, because of how she says at the end, “ From that point on, in order to be his, I had to request it.”


Honestly, the dynamic between Jenny and her brother is odd. Jenny is very much hot and cold--she hates her brother, then she loves him the next. With her brother, it’s different. He’s constantly following Jenny, he respects Jenny, and adores her, no matter what. When Jenny realizes a shift in his behavior, though, she seems disappointed with it. So, the question is, what should a healthy sibling dynamic look like? Is it fair for Jenny’s brother to deal with Jenny’s dramatic changes in her mood?