Examples Of Coming Of Age In I Am The Messenger

Since the first spark of human life, coming-of-age has even occurred at the time of Adam and Eve. Many people think that the only part of maturing is puberty. However, one of the greatest parts of growing up is not, surprisingly, going through puberty. Coming-of-age involves recognizing different perspectives.

     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

In the novel “A Long Way Gone”, there are endless amounts of evidence to be found explaining why this novel is a “coming of age” novel. So, what exactly is “coming of age”? Typically, this is a story that is made up of three different factors: young characters who experience a crisis, absent or negative adult relations, and the incorporation of an epiphany moment. The story of Ishmael Beah could not be an any greater representation of this category of story, because at 12 years old there is no peace that could be described in his childhood simply because peace was absent.

There is a time in everyone’s life when they reach a certain age where they go through a period where they come of age. To come of age means that a person reaches an age when they discover something they didn’t know before and they learn it when they come across something significant. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses the theme of coming of age with her character Jem Finch. Throughout his coming of age experience Jem encounters the tree, the gun, and the camellias which teach him some important lessons that he will benefit from in the future.

As people get older they go through experiences in their life that can change them in bad ways or most of the time change them in good ways.This good change occurs usually by the experiences teaching them important lessons they should know in life.These changes are very important in ones life because it matures them into an adult. This transformation happens to certain characters in every novel and it is called coming of age. In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, both Jem and Scout go through this coming of age and learn what it means to be courageous, the unfairness of the world, and to look at other people's perspective before judging them.

In the novel written by Harper Lee titled To Kill a Mockingbird, it is a story that revolves around two children named Jem and Scout and their experiences in a prejudiced town as they grow up and mature into young adults. They learn lessons regarding what the real world has to offer during a time of segregation. As they discover new ideas, they also manage to learn more about themselves. Lee utilizes imagery, direct characterization, and dialogue to express the recurring theme of coming of age, also known as Bildungsroman.

To Kill a Mockingbird has two major genres that it can be shelved under; Bildungsroman and Southern Gothic. A bildungsroman, otherwise known as a ‘coming of age story’, usually focuses on one character as they ‘come of age’ and ‘grow up’ in either a mental or physical sense. To Kill a Mockingbird has more than one character experience a ‘coming of age’, but the character who ‘grew up’ the most was Scout. Over the course of the novel, she learned a multitude of lessons that helped shape and carry out the ending.

At an early age many children are oblivious to issues in society like race relations, and they are easily influenced by their parents. The book Coming of Age by Anne Moody, takes place during the civil rights era in the United States. All of the white children stop playing with Anne after an incident in at the movie theater. These kids were influenced by their parents who didn’t want them interacting with African Americans. Anne Moody’s learns about the significance of race in American social life as well as the differences between the lives of blacks and whites through her experiences at home, school and work. These experiences help prepare Anne to join the civil rights movement. At home, Anne experienced firsthand the poverty many African Americans faced, she experienced discrimination and intimidation in the work employer Mrs. Burke and at the diner by white customers, and she also dealt with segregated schooling.

A perfect way Coming of Age is displayed in the novel Bless Me, Ultima is when the loss of innocence from Antonio is taken when he witness multiple murders first hand. At a young age, it is not normal for a seven year old to witness another person get shot first hand. This form of sin can take a toll on a young mind since they will forever remember something that cynical. For example, Antonio witnesses Lupito kill the sheriff that notices him. “”Chavez is dead!”

Richard Wright is the author of numerous short stories and books, two of which include The Man Who was Almost a Man and Big Boy Leaves Home. The first story, The Man Who was Almost a Man, follows seventeen year old David, who one days becomes angered by the way he is treated by older men. The second story, Big Boy Leaves Home, follows four young African Americans who one day skip school. Richard Wright has a very unique writing style, which helps him develop his characters very fast. Author Richard Wright’s short stories are both written to illustrate how one’s decisions can affect their future.

In the short story “Agreeable” Jonathan Franzen uses three crucial features to express his theme of coming of age. Features Franzen includes is that Patty endures suffering and challenges, and finds truthfulness in herself and others, that all tie up to find a place in the world that expresses coming of age. Patty suffers a traumatic experience that forces her to grow up. Throughout the story she endures suffering and challenges that drive her to her coming of age experience.

In Sixteen and Through the Tunnel the authors talk about two people who have similar coming of age events that take place in their lives. The comparison of these two stories can help us better understand the themes and events in these stories.

Whether it be due the malleable minds of children, or the turbulent world around them, dramatic changes in life are an absolute certainty. Young, naïve children are highly impressionable. Their parents teach them one thing, their friends another, and society, yet something else. Fickle, they morph in and out of the plethora of ideologies and mindsets laid out in front of them. This leads to a disorienting and rather confusing child-to-young-adult life, one without a clear sense of morality. The lack of focus upon what is right and wrong, inherently subjective terms, continues into our early adult hood and, for better or worse, seemingly defines the child for the rest of his or her life. This universal theme has been explored for many years through films aptly called “coming-of-age” stories, recently, and perhaps most effectively in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (2012). This film revolves around Sam and Suzy, two recently pubescent kids, their romantic affair, and their effects on the world around them. The film not only captures the youthful dynamic between the two protagonists, but explores the “coming-of-age” theme through Anderson’s signature flat perspective and through the actors’ portrayals of these characters.

"Middle age is when your classmates are so old and wrinkled and bald, they don’t recognize you". -Bennett Cerf     

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a complete work of art, complete in the sense that it gives such great insight to human nature and the people of the world. The title is essentially what this novel represents. The “coming of age” is represented like a portrait because it takes a long time, with many different attempts, to reach the final work of art. In even greater context, the protagonist experiences a series of epiphanies in which he gains insight into his own nature and into the people of the world. In the main characters “coming of age” there are crucial components that are lost and gained, which can be derived from his love of family, religion,