Minimum of Two and Human Relationships :: English Literature

Don’t be a twit Clive. Minimum of Two presents a bleak view of human relationships. Discuss in relation to three stories. â€Å"Minimum of Two† demonstrates a bleak view of human relationships, however there are a few hopeful ones. The boy and the boy’s friend show negative and pessimistic relationships. Jerra and Rachel show a plain relationship at first, however it turns more optimistic during the end. The girl and the mother have a negative damaging relationship, which does not change. All these characters demonstrate a desolate view of relationships at some stage in the novel. The boy and the boy’s friend show a plain, windswept relationship. The boy’s friend and his girlfriend travel up the coast together to his mother’s holiday house. The boy is quiet and doesn’t want to lose his friend. He follows them wherever they go and doesn’t want to accept that things are different, â€Å"he swears things are the same†, No Memory Comes†. The boy has been friends with him nearly his whole life, and doesn’t realise that his friend his moving on. The boy knows that his relationship with his friend is becoming distant. The boy is trapped in the past and terrified that things are changing. He is going to have to let go of the past, but he does not want to be separated from it. The boy and the boy’s friend showed a very ordinary relationship, that was not going to last. In the start of the novel Jerra and Rachel do not show a very optimistic relationship, however it turns out hopeful during the end. They argue a great deal and are quite distant. Jerra has a difficult lack of family support, yet he tries to keep everything together, â€Å"too many things had gone against them†, â€Å"Forest Winter†. Their relationship was very quiet and there was not a lot of communication, so Jerra decided to have a baby in order to bring them closer together. After the baby Rachel became silent, â€Å"having the baby had muted her†, ‘Forest Winter’. Rachel also felt sad and pessimistic after she had been raped, however she finds the courage to overcome this in â€Å"The strong one†. At the end of the novel when Rachel has the baby, they become very close and Jerra does not want to lose Rachel or Sam. At this point it is shown that Jerra cares and has feelings for Rachel, â€Å"I love you†, ‘Blood and Water’. Rachel and Jerra have their ups and downs, however in the end they look forward with desire and more confidence. The mother and the daughter show a very sad and unhopeful