Octavio Paz's Short Story : Transitioning From Innocence To Experience

Innocence is something that can only be lost once. Within both The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley there are various characters that lose their innocence in very dramatic ways. A character can lose their innocence due to the death of someone else. They can also lose their innocence by just being looked at from a different perspective by others, this can be seen through the characters Bernard and Rachel. ADD ANOTHER TOPIC Someone who has lost their innocence changes their personality and perspective on life, which results in them acting in situations differently than they would before.

Innocence in “The Secret Lion” Growing up is an important event all boys go through. The story “The Secret Lion” by Alberto Rios portrays two young boys in their journey to adulthood. The boy’s learn important life advice from the interactions with his mother. The boys have realizations of the environments they were in and their new sexual feelings in their journey through the arroyo and golf course.

Often, we as humans tend to separate ourselves from stories and myths. If a story is fictitious, we immediately dismiss any possibility of relating and learning from it. However, some archetypal events and themes observed in literature may be far more real than we wish to admit. The loss of innocence is one such archetype. Despite having broad definition, the effects of the loss of innocence are narrow. Commonly, an innocent or ignorant individual experiences an event or realization causing a shift towards experience and knowledge. Archetypes are present in Roman and Greek myths, and are still used today, sometimes unknowingly, in stories, songs, and poems. This is likely because it is a reflection of events in our own lives, to a certain

"All things truly wicked start from an innocence,” states Ernest Hemingway on his view of innocence. Innocence, what every youth possesses, is more accurately described as a state of unknowing but not ignorance- which connotation suggests a blissfully positive view of the world. Most youth are protected from the harsh realities of the adult world. Therefore they are able to maintain their state of innocence. While innocence normally wanes over time, sometimes innocence can be abruptly taken away. Some of the characters in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood lost their innocence due to the traumatic events they experienced in childhood and adulthood while some had none to begin with.

The lost of innocence can totally change the way people view the world. A person who illustrates this can be found in J.D. Salinger’s novel, the Catcher in the Rye. The story happened during the 1950s, in a small town in Pennsylvania called Agerstown. A teenage boy named Holden, who witnesses the death of his older brother Allie when he was only 13 years old. Then consequently, he blames himself all his life for the death of Allie. As time went by he starts to search for a sense of innocence that was lost in the beginning of the novel. Throughout the course of the novel, the author conveys that Holden is continually stuck in between childhood and adulthood. The author uses Holden’s struggle to convey that in reality often times people who

In the story “Marigolds”, by Eugenia Collier, the theme consists of accepting who you are- because if you put it off, you may do something you may regret. The main character, Lizabeth, is on a path to adulthood, which is greatly treacherous and is a journey full of many challenges. Lizabeth quotes in many parts of the story that she feels conflicted in whatever she does, making her very emotionally frustrated. “The child in me sulked and said it was all in fun but the woman in me flinched at the thought of the malicious attack we led.” (Collier 124). Lizabeth’s statement proves that she feels very split on what to do, because of the emotions interfering with her. Her statement proves that the path to adulthood is not as easy

The first experience that Baby has which causes her loss of innocence is her first exposure to the

A rite of passage is defined as a ceremony marking a significant transition or an important event or achievement, both regarded as having great meaning in lives of individuals. In Sharon Olds' moving poem "Rite of Passage", these definitions are illustrated in the lives of a mother and her seven-year-old son. The seriousness and significance of these events are represented in the author's tone, which undergoes many of its own changes as the poem progresses.

[Anthony Horowitz once said, “Childhood, after all, is the first precious coin that poverty steals from a child.”] In the novel The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the Walls children had a rough childhood, enduring many tough things like poverty. Rex and Rose Mary Walls wanted to teach their children resilience and self sufficiency. Despite their good intentions, they were very irresponsible and unstable parents. They put their children in danger in many ways which caused them to have a loss of innocence at a young age. The Walls children proved throughout the book that *having a rough childhood and losing innocence at a young age does not determine a person’s future.*

The concept of innocence plays a very big role in the book The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. Lily and Zach’s love story represents innocence perfectly. After spending a lot of time together and becoming great friends, Lily starts to realize her feelings for him may lean towards more than just friendship. “The whole time we worked, I marveled at how mixed up people got when it came to love. I myself, for instance.

Innocence is quite a recurring theme in this book, The Catcher in The Rye by J.D Salinger. The main character Holden Caulfield has been through his fair share of trauma, such as when his younger brother died. Later in the story it is explained that he misses his brother dearly and that is what makes him want to preserve his own innocence as well as that of all other children. In fact Holden will question everything like when he asked his cab driver, “Where do all the ducksgeese go when the winter comes. ”(Salinger)

In the novella “Down the Rabbit Hole” by Pablo Juan Villalobos, the story revolves around the concept of innocence. What makes this novella different from other literature that discuss innocence is that the main character Tochtli does not actual move from innocence to experience but rather stays innocent but as the audience reads on they figure out that tochtli has moved further and further away from pure innocence. In the beginning of the novella in the short notes ahead innocence is explained in the context of the novella as being incomprehension. This is a theme that is revealed throughout the entirety of the novella. The novella Down the rabbit hole sets the scene inside a palace of a later understood drug lord, who is the father of tochtli, the main character. Tochtli is only seven and therefor does not have an exact grip on what is happening around him. Juan pablo Villalobos however reveals information in such a way that the truth escapes the innocent mind of tochtli but screams out to the readers.

In Gabriel García Márquez’s short story “Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother,” fourteen year old Eréndira makes a mistake that changes the rest of her life. When she accidentally burns down her grandmothers house by leaving a candle burning at night, her grandmother states that Eréndira’s “life won't be long enough […] to pay [her] back for this mishap” (Márquez 7). In order to pay her grandmother back, Eréndira is sold into prostitution, losing her virginity to “the village storekeeper […] who was quite well known in the desert for the good price he paid for virginity.” They continue on, going town to town selling Eréndira to any man who was willing to pay. Despite the fact that Eréndira is still just a young girl, her grandmother

Within “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl, the theme is that being naive can make one unaware of dangerous situations. Billy Weaver was looking for a decently priced hotel to stay at. However, an old lady offered to take him in for a night at her bed and breakfast. So, the lady welcomed Billy and insisted that he drink a cup of tea that happened to be posioned. Then, Billy slowly sipped the poisonous tea while he questioned the lady. Finally, Billy’s innocence led him to the high risk situation of consuming the toxic tea.

Although we as humans naturally strive to learn, and understand the beautiful world that surrounds us, maybe this curiosity and the knowledge we receive from it is what takes our innocence away.