Come Of Age Essay

     Childhood is a time where children learn about the world around themselves. They see and experience many factors that influence their everyday lives, which help them grow stronger when they become adults. In 'Girl'; by Jamaica Kincaid and 'The Lesson'; by Toni Cade Bambara the characters within the stories learn valuable lesson with help them grow to become better individuals. In 'The Lesson'; the character of Sugar undergoes a realization that society does not treat everyone equally, that not every individual has the same opportunity and equality that they should have. In 'Girl'; the main character learns that she must be perceived as a woman and not as a slut, her mother brings to her

Bobby's best friends are K-boy and J.L, and he was going to go to the park to play basketball with them. On his way down the steps he remembers Feather. He now has to walk back to the apartment and tend to feathers needs. He sets the ball down and it rolls away from him and into the hallway. When the ball rolls away it is representing Bobby's old life or childhood. His fun is rolling away from him and he is stuck with life. Now instead of having a good time with his friends, he has to take care of

In conclusion, yes, Bobby is going through some hard times and we all have our days. Now we are all learning from our mistakes and we become better people from our mistakes cause we learn from what the consequences are. Bobby has become a more mature and "manly" and has started taking responsibility for his actions. I learned from this book that making mistakes is okay because in the long run we learn and grow from

Bobby, a teenage boy is on a journey to “come of age”, he must due to certain circumstances like his newborn baby girl, whom he is raising practically on his own. Bobby know that to be a good father he needs to grow up.

A symbol that is shown is the symbol of the arcade, and children playing games. Bobby will see these children, or talk of what his friends are doing in the arcade; furthermore, it shows that Bobby wants to be a kid again. A symbol that is also shown is the symbol of the bubblegum. The bubblegum found on page 108 shows that he feels the temptation to leave Feather behind, and to just have his life be easy and simple. These symbols all show his longing to be a kid again, but he doesn’t follow these promptings. Bobby always seems to only glance at these symbols, but not put them to action. He doesn’t want to leave Feather all alone, even if it is hard. Another thing that Bobby does throughout the book is he censors himself. Instead of speaking out loud, he stops himself. On page forty-two, Bobby thinks to himself while the teacher is talking, and doesn’t try to contradict what the teacher is saying. He tries his hardest to just listen and keep the situation from getting worse. Throughout the book, Bobby says that he sometimes wants to be like Feather. He even acts like he is Feather’s brother on page 82 saying, “Yeah, she’s easy to deal with, my sister,” in order to get out of the responsibility of being a parent, yet he still has to take care of Feather at the end of the day. “This must be what made my mom’s eyes narrow and nasty words come out of her mouth. This must be what helped give my dad an ulcer and that look on his face that says-what next (Page 33)?” Bobby is able to realize that what he has done has changed the lives of his parents, and it has made the situation harder for his family overall. He feels bad, saying, “I feel worse because I’m taking my dad’s smile and probably some more things he’ll never talk about (Page 74),” and he sees that he might have taken his dad’s smile away. He feels guilty, and therefore decides that he will do as much as he can without his parent’s help. This

In the first chapter, Bobby states that he thinks of the world as wrong. He thinks that "if the world were really right, humans would live life backwards and do the first part last. They would be all knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end" (TFPL pg. 4). Bobby was given more reason to think this way when "Just Frank", the homeless guy who always asked Bobby if he "was being a man", got murdered while trying to stop a nutjob from pulling a helpless girl into an alley. Just Frank had been killed in cold blood by a man whose sole intent was to harm. This man had lost everything, and was probably having the worst time of his entire life when he was murdered while trying to save someone's life. Then, the thought arose, "why do bad things happen to good people", which gave Bobby a respect for this man who he had seen as a joke for a very long time. He died when he was the most alone, and Bobby wishes that humans would die when they are young and innocent and in the arms of their loving parents and surrounded by people who care about them. Not to be murdered in cold blood in an alley when help is needed the most. This changed Bobby's outlook on the world and gave him a new sense of maturity and

One important symbol is how the title plays a part in the first chapter. Bobby says on page 4, "But I figure if the world were really right, humans would live the first part last. They'd be all knowing in the beginning in the end." This excerpt means that it would make more sense if humans were born into this world guilty and knowing everything and left the world innocent and with someone at their side. A baby, for example, is born not knowing anything. They always have someone by their side and catering to their needs. However, as you exit the world, you have no one by your side and you die knowing that you were always guilty for something. This is a symbol because it shows how Bobby wants the world to work. This is a symbol for love since he wants to leave the world peacefully and by someones

In the book(page 22-25), Bobby has a basketball and forgets about his baby named Feather. When he goes to put the basketball down on the floor, it rolls away from him. This is a symbol of Bobby’s teen and childhood going away. The chapter also talks about him going to go play basketball. Going back to the basketball rolling away, this part means that he cannot hangout with friends anymore. The ball rolls over to his mother’s bedroom door meaning that Bobby has to start acting like a parent and not a child. That is why the basketball represents Bobby coming of

In the story First Part Last the color red is symbolic of love, and hate and shows him coming of age. In the beginning of the story we don't know Nia is pregnant, but when he gets home from traveling on his birthday, he is greeted home by Nia giving him a red balloon. The balloon is given to him because it is his birthday, or Nia is handing the red balloon and whatever it symbolizes. Red can mean a lot of things that are different, but are linked together in many ways in the story. Red's symbolization meanings are love, hate, violence, and blood. One day when Bobby had the child his mom said "ill take care of Feather, to the

In First Part Last once Nia finds out she is pregnant she goes to Bobby and hands him a red balloon. This balloon that is being handed to him could mean many different things, the day she handed him the balloon it was his birthday. But that is not what it was meant to symbolize. The red part of the balloon alone has many meanings red symbolizes love, urgency, blood, violence, or death. A balloon also will fly up in the sky and go away just how there childhood will once they have the baby because because they will have a bigger responsibility to handle than rather being a child. So, the balloon represents childhood and love for when Nia has the

How do you think a person with a baby on its way have to come of age? Well this question is related to two people named Bobby and Nia but the only thing is that they are both still teens in high school. They are both in a book called The First Part Last by Angela Johnson. I'm going to talk about how they are going to come of age throughout the book by symbols.

The First Part Last is a interesting tale. The book is littered with symbols and treasure to look for. What symbols are in The First Part Last? How can they affect the story? What is the main idea/symbol in the book?

The red ballon is a symbol that his child hood is pretty much over he is going to be coming of age. will be a father soon. Bobby is not ready to be a father because he is still just a kid just like Nia. Both are still going to school as well in other words they are in deep water.

To begin with, Bobby was taking care of Feather he was trying to be mature, the male had many chances to play games or be a child again. “I lay my basketball down and it rolls into mary’s room” (23) this line shows Bobby's first real sign of gaining maturity, the basketball symbolizes Bobby’s childhood and it rolling away shows bobby losing a piece of his childhood. He doesn’t chase the

Well, what society calls "typical". He likes to play basketball, go to the arcade, and party with his friends. There was a specific part towards the beginning of the book where Bobby rolls a basketball away from him. At this point, Bobby is a single parent. This basketball is showing that Bobby is giving up his childhood and accepting the fact that he will not have any freedom. He doesn't have time to go and be a "typical" teenager. His days of playing basketball are now filled with changing diapers and feeding his child. Bobby is responsible for a human