Family is and has always been the cornerstone of society and the backbone of every human being. The power that family members render on the growth, mental state, well being, and development of an individual cannot be denied nor can the strong attractions between various family members be ignored. A person’s character is shaped by the kind of people that that person grows up with. A stable family will always overcome outside obstacles, but even in an ideal family there exist various "sub-relationships" that people can bear witness to. Sons generally develop a strong bond with their mothers whereas it is not uncommon for daughters to form strong bonds with their fathers. This is where the popular phrases of "Mama’s Boy" and "Daddy’s Little Girl" originated. However, relationships do not stay the same forever. This is evident in the short narrative "No More Lollipops" by Debra Adams and in a key passage of Carson McCuller’s novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. These works of literature apply to the relationship between fathers and daughters, as does the following essay. From them, a conclusion can be drawn that the relationship between fathers and daughters is intensely strong while the girls are young children and worsens as the girls enter their teenage and adult years. Time slowly but effectively erodes the bonds.

Father-daughter relationships last in strength and security while the daughter is young. "No More Lollipops" provides readers with an excellent example of this. The entire essay is a narrative recited in flashbacks. The narrator – Debra Adams – recalls from her teenage years how close she and her father were when she was around five or six. One indication of closeness, which is frequently mentioned in articles and television shows, is that two people take part in a particular act, which they consider special. This is exactly the case with Debra and her father. She says, "…my father used to go downstairs for a nighttime snack. And he’d pause at the top of the stairs and say something loud enough for me to hear it in my bedroom, and then…wait for me to go running to him and climb onto his shoulders…And it seemed like nothing else pleased me more than that ride on my father’s shoulder" (1). This was obviously a special moment that both people appreciated. Debra enjoyed this habit and the humor associated with it, and her father probably took pleasure in delighting his "little girl." A person reading this article cannot deny the bond that existed between Debra and her father during her years of childhood as "Daddy’s Little Girl." This is so easily recognized because Debra uses first person narrative to convey her exact feelings, making it unnecessary for any inferences to be made because everything is so perfectly described. Judging from this article, the two family members had a perfect relationship.

If this relationship continued into Debra’s teenage years, there would be no reason for writing this essay. But the fact of the matter is that both works, the narrative and the novel, clearly illustrate that the bonds between father and daughter do not remain so tightly sewn for long. The first four paragraphs of "No More Lollipops" leaves the reader with a feeling of pride and maybe a reminder of his or her own childhood. But the story follows an abrupt twist almost immediately after Debra says how much she enjoyed that "ride on her father’s shoulders." "From him, no more hugs, no more kisses, no more pride in his voice when he introduced me to clients or temple members while I shyly hid behind a leg," she says (1). The essay does not make it clear as to why Debra dropped in status from her daddy’s shining star, but it does make it clear that it happens. She clearly says, "I don’t know when it stopped. It seems I just woke up one morning and I was no longer my daddy’s little girl" (1). The two were so close at the beginning and seemed so distant at the end. In the end, Debra’s tone is that of a fragile person reminiscing about her childhood and yearning for the times when she could sit on her father’s shoulders. The title, itself, is very symbolic. "No More Lollipops" clearly shows that the relationship used to be good, and now it is worse. Now, there are no more "lollipops."

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter finally comes into play to support the statement that father-daughter relationships worsen over time. An incident between Mick, a teenager and one of the protagonists in the story, and her father demonstrate the lack of closeness between a teenage girl and her father. This example is somewhat different from the one in "No More Lollipops" because in Debra’s narrative, the teenage Debra still wishes that she was daddy’s little girl. Her father’s change in attitude appears to be the reason for the turn in the relationship. In The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, however, the father is the one that craves closeness and Mick is the one who cannot provide it, not purposefully. In this incident in the novel, Mick is ready to go outside when her father calls her. She goes to him, but he has nothing to say. She comes to realize that her father is lonely and that he feels useless (he is disabled and cannot work, so he feels that his incapability to bring money affects his usefulness to his family). Her father’s call for her illustrates his desire for a strong relationship with her, but his inability to summon a conversation demonstrates the fact that such a relationship does not really exist. Once again, the author uses point of view to show the feelings that take place. For example, Mick says, "Her Dad just stared at her. She could tell he didn’t have any reason for calling her. He only wanted real bad to talk to her" (84). This demonstrates the point mentioned above.

One can argue that the fact that Mick actually heeded her father’s call when she was in a hurry expresses a close relationship. But this action, as well as the whole conversation, illustrates more of a desire on account of both Mick and her father to develop a strong bond rather than the strong bond itself. And for certain reasons, the bond does not manifest. "…for some reason she couldn’t tell him about the things in her mind – about the hot, dark nights," Mick says (86). If Mick was Daddy’s Little Girl, she would have been able to tell him about those nights that she keeps in such secrecy. Knowing that she cannot allows Mick, herself, to realize, in a way, that she and her father are not close.

Fathers generally develop strong bonds with daughters and these relationships remain throughout the daughter’s life, but they worsen with time and, after a while, a daughter may find herself to no longer be "Daddy’s Little Girl." Two works of literature illustrate this – "No More Lollipops" by Debra Adams and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. The first work, respectively, effectively demonstrates how powerful a bond between father and daughter can be during the daughter’s childhood. Both works go hand in hand to show that the relationship worsens as the girl grows.