The Cycle of Violence/Frustrations (in reference to "The Rake")

The whole cycle of violence thing in "The Rake" always seems to stem from the family's different frustrations. The grandfather is frustrated because his wife will not ever have sex with him. He in turn takes his frustration out on his daugher (David's mother). David's mother then marries a violent husband who may be frustrated with the fact that David's mother can not get over her past with her father. He takes his frustration out on his daughter (David's sister). David is frustrated with everything--the violence, the silence, the dysfunction--and one day finally explodes with anger and ends up hurting his own sister.

The cycle of violence of violence things reminds me of two sayings or philosophies: that every generation repeats the same things from the previous one (as far as families are concerned) and that if we do not learn about our past then we are doomed to repeat it. David's family's cycle of violence is passed down to each generation of men from his grandfather to his father and to him. Not only that, but maybe if the family's issues would have been talked about instead of being suppressed for so long then the cycle could have been broken. But the family remained silent, and the cycle continued until David ends up hitting his little sister in the face with the rake.

Basically, this teaches us that people should not remain silent about things that are so crucial. Silence does not solve anything, it only makes things worth. The problem gets bigger and never goes away. Past mistakes are repeated and no one ever learns from them.