¶ … namely, that the effects of brotherhood, or growing-up with brothers can be disastrous. The author encourages parents to have only one boy child, and suggests that the supposedly "normal" amount of harassing that goes on between brothers often crosses a line.
The second paragraph brings the author to his first personal example of cruelty from his older brothers. They played a "game" when he was learning to walk in which they repeatedly knocked him down.
The author then introduces the reader to another game his brothers forced him to play, called "polish sausage."
This paragraph describes the game in detail. Essentially, it involved wrapping him in a blanket so that he could not escape until they decided to let him out.
At this point, the author describes how the game became mentally torturous and sometimes violent -- with his brothers jumping on top of him. He points out that his parents were clueless as to what was going on. He mentions that these events have mentally scarred him to this day.
Next, the author changes his approach, as he makes a generalization about how brotherhood is often depicted as something that helps boys to mature into men. But he juxtaposes this with other, brief examples of how his brothers knowingly brought harm to him. He then concludes that if everyone treated each other as brothers, it would be a horribly cruel place.
In this paragraph the author dramatically changes his focus and tone. He deliberately undermines his previous position by mentioning several of the helpful deeds his older brothers did for him as a child, and how he enjoyed their company. Yet, all the while, he maintains the tone of one who is genuinely upset about his treatment.
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