Are Dysfunctional Families a Norm - Essay Example

As Isaac was dying, Esau was told to bring him a tasty meal after hunting it down and killing it, so that he could receive his father’s blessing. But, Rebekah, who was listening in on the conversation, told her son, Jacob to bring her two of the finest goats from the field and that she would prepare the food for Isaac. Jacob did as he was told. He, then, wondered how he was going to receive Isaac’s blessing. Rebekah said not to worry, even though Jacob worried since Esau was hairier than he. But, Rebekah had a plan; she dressed up Jabob in Easu’s clothing with goatskins underneath to make him seem hairy. Jacob brought Isaac his meal. In the end, Jacob was given Isaac’s blessing after making Isaac think that he was Esau. This treachery by Jacob shows that his family was incorporated into their upbringing, where the father’s blessing always went to the oldest son (Genesis 27:2-29, Bradshaw pg 40).

Joseph and his Brothers
Joseph had dreams given to him by God. In these dreams, he saw himself ruling over his very own family. This made his brothers jealous. His brothers came up with ways to get rid of him. The majority of them decided to kill Joseph and bring his multicolored coat back to their father, Jacob, and show that wild animals had killed their brother. But one of Joseph’s brothers, Rueben, told them to not kill him. They threw Joseph into the cistern alive.

However, while eating their meals the brothers saw a caravan of Ishmaelites headed to Egypt. So Judah advised that they sold him into slavery instead of laying their hands on him with his blood. They gained money for selling their brother into slavery. According to Bradshaw, the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers is a behaviorally induced trance due to Joseph being their younger brother, there is no way he should rule over them, by order of birthright. (Genesis 37, Bradshaw 40)

Joseph and Potiphar’s wife
Joseph became the slave of the Egyptian captain of the guard, Potiphar. Eventually, with God looking down upon him, Joseph ran Potiphar's household. Nothing was held back from Joseph except for Potiphar's wife. Potiphar's wife had taken notice of Joseph and tried to bed him. He reused it many times. Then, one day Joseph came to the house to attend to his duties and none of the other servants happened to be there. The wife tried bedding Joseph. He refused. She tore at his cloak as he ran off. The wife later lied to her husband, Potiphar telling him that Joseph tried to force himself upon her. Promptly, Potiphar had Joseph thrown in jail. This shows from an understanding of Bradshaw that Potiphar's wife had abused her initial relationship with Joseph and abandoned him when he didn’t give her what she wanted. Thus, Joseph fled out of shame. (Genesis 39, Bradshaw 3)

Conclusion
Dysfunctional families are all too rampant throughout time. And some of these dysfunctional families gave rise to some of the world's most feared leaders. But it also shows that since the beginning of human history there have always been dysfunctional families of some sort. Read More