1. How do family secrets shape people, and who are the storytellers in your own family?

[smkelly]

Family secrets play a huge role in The Storyteller’s Death.

How do family secrets start and take on a life of their own? Have you ever discovered something shocking about a relative’s past that changed your understanding of them?

Who are the storytellers in your family?

[Gharam mahmoud]

Family secrets in The Storyteller’s Death begin from shame or a desire to protect, but over time they grow and shape the family’s identity. These secrets, once uncovered, can change how people see themselves and their loved ones. Isla’s discoveries reveal hidden truths that shift her understanding of her past. In real life, finding out a surprising truth about a relative can lead to deeper understanding, but also emotional conflict.

[JDA]

I learned that a family member’s abusive and alcoholic rancher husband left her out of the inheritance of the ranch she managed while he was incapacitated. Her generosity and compassion was made much more clear. She was faithful and forgiving because she knew what it meant to have difficulties she didn’t cause.

A member of the family bought the generational family home and holds annual reunions there, along with “mandatory” family history sessions. There are definitely some eye rolls. But we all revere her. Not because she told her own story but because others did.

Some of my cousins and one of my sons are picking up the storytelling role now that our older generation of storytellers are gone.

[Micjacsim]

Family secrets can alter a persons behavior because once a truth is hidden it takes on a life of its own. The person or people have resolved to hold on to something that can eat away at there personality because they then have to hold onto whatever story that protects the outcome(lie). In this story the family seemed to hold their societal status to such a high regard that they let a loved ones murder go without an investigation. They were willing to allow illness and mental health to be the cover-up.

In my family my grandmother was the storyteller. When I was a child, she told me wonderful stories about our family and her life. Sometimes I didn't understand the stories but later in life they made sense. My grandmother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers and eventually stopped talking. I feel blessed to have heard her share her life experiences and the stories of my family.

[Mackenzie]

Family secrets don’t just affect the whole individuals but it affects the person because they have to deal with the guilt and shame. The storytellers in my family is my Aunts, my mom, and my aunt’s about ex husband along with her friend who is guilty of it herself.

[Linazelly67]

I believe that family secrets start because a family wants to protect a specific image or potray a specific image to others inside and outside of the family. Family secrets are not great because they can cause people to make similar mistakes or it can create distance between family members. For example, we see this with Isla and Elena. When her mom buries her father while she is in PR and when her mom doesnt share that she also has visions, it creates a distance between her and Isla that only truth can repair.

In my family my dad was the biggest storyteller. I would sit with him and just listen to the stories he had about growing up in the Dominican Republic. Stories about our history, culture, and beliefs. My mom also had stories too about the family. Whenever I would visit DR, my cousins would share stories on dominican folklore and such.

[nancyw421]

I guess I am the storyteller in my family. I took my father's family history book and a family tree in the form of a letter and put them into a computer program with connected public genealogy sources. My mother was also a storyteller. She wrote a memoir when she was 65 that told the story of my childhood from her point of view. Her memoir helped me be able to be open minded.

Also, I have journaled since the mid 90s. I hope someone wants to read them in the future.

[tangledipintx]

The storytellers in my family wanted to protect the family image. This book opened up so many reasons many of the characters had a secret. It seems that we can be forgiving of a secret that is kept with the intent of protecting someone. I think the secret as a literary tool keeps use reading.

The storyteller on my father's side was an uncle. We would gather around him to hear the stories of the pass. He was struck with dementia. We all grieved losing his stories and him too soon.

[Carole H]

1. I don't think we had any family secrets, at least none that I knew. With my mother's death last year, all the people of the last generation are gone now. My mother could talk a streak, at least until her dementia took over, so I guess that she was the storyteller in our family.

[Mher1]

Family secrets shape people differently. The person with the secret might act strangely in certain situations (like Isla’s mom), and the person finding out the secret might see the secret holders in a whole new light.

Family secrets usually start from embarrassment or shame. Members of the family trying to hide less pleasant truths about the family.

My family isn’t close at all, and I’ve not found out and opinion altering revelations about any of them. We do not have storytellers in my family, unfortunately.