Simply Accept the Changes of Life and Move on: Joyce Cary's "Growing Up"

"They grow up too fast" (Anonymous). We have all probably heard this term at least once in our lifetime or has said it. One second it's our first day of kinder; the next we're off to college. It is a part of life and according to the book "Bless Me Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya, it shows the reader, how the narrator, Antonio, left childhood too soon. The deaths of Lupito, Narciso and Florence prepared and matured Antonio for the final challenge at the end of the novel.

“Shells” by Cynthia Rylant is a realistic short story about a fourteen year old boy who learns to live with his Aunt Esther and to live with change. In the beginning, Michael is a lonely boy that has no parents because they died. So he lives with his Aunt Esther who does not like Micheal. But ends up bonding a relationship with Michael. Soon, Michael decides to bring a hermit crab home with him one day. His Aunt does not really like the hermit crab but she lets him keep it because she wants Michael to be happy. In the end, Aunt Esther is trying to make Michael not as lonely by playing with the hermit crab and buying more crabs. She wants to have a relationship with Michael because she knows that his a having a hard time making friends at school

The garden is the vehicle in which the narrator reveals her reluctance to leave behind the imaginary world of childhood and see the realities of the adult world. The evidence supporting this interpretation is the imagery of hiding. The narrator uses the garden to hide from reality and the

In the short stories, “Saving Sourdi,” by May-Lee Chai and “The Moths,” by Helena Maria Viramontes, the main character of each short story goes through their own coming of age experience where they are forced to mature in order to overcome an obstacle. Chai explains her main character, Nea’s, struggle as she is forced to mature and overcome the departure of her older sister, Sourdi, from her life after she gets married and moves away. Viramontes, on the other hand, depicts her narrator’s struggle as she is forced to mature and overcome the death of her Abuelita on her own. Despite their very different approaches, both Chai and Viramontes successfully convey their main character 's struggles in their journey from youth to adulthood.

Adolescence is a bumpy and unknown section of the road known as life. Both the short story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier and the poem “Hard on the Gas,” by Janet S. Wong relate to the theme that “the road to growing up and maturing isn’t always smooth”. “Marigolds is the story of an adolescent who is growing up in the Great Depression. Through hard experiences and tumultuous emotions, the narrator learns that growing up is full of ups and downs. “Hard on the Gas” is a poem about a grandchild driving with his or her grandfather. The grandchild realizes that the road isn’t always perfect and that there will be bumps along the way. The theme “the road growing up and maturing isn’t always smooth” is conveyed in both of these selection.

“Saving Sourdi” by May-Lee Chai, discusses a classic plot of the metamorphosis from childhood to adulthood. In her story, the two main characters Sourdi and Nea develop in stark contrast to one another. Nea, the younger sister, has difficulty growing up and maturing as her own life, as well as her sister’s life, progresses. Her naivety, aggression, and anxiety influence her decisions throughout the story in a negative way. Chai’s character is easily believable and relatable, everyone has had a point in their lives where they didn’t want to grow up, handled a situation poorly, or realized that their relationship with someone has changed

"Too late, you're out of time. Be a grown-up." (Johnson ). As humans, we have discovered that as children grow, there comes a point in their lives where they transition from childhood to adulthood. This process is called "coming of age". The idea is that adolescents shed their childhood mindset and take on adult responsibilities. In The First Part Last, the protagonist, Bobby, is faced with the responsibility of having a child of his own, and he begins the coming of age process. By the end of the novel, it is obvious that Bobby has successfully come of age, based on the symbols and events that are show throughout the novel.

“Saving Sourdi” by May-Lee Chai, discusses a classic plot of the metamorphosis from childhood to adulthood. In her story, the two main characters Sourdi and Nea develop in stark contrast to one another. Nea, the younger sister, has difficulty growing up and maturing as her own life, as well as her sister’s life, progresses. Her naivety, aggression, and anxiety influence her decisions throughout the story in a negative way. Chai’s character is easily believable and relatable, everyone has had a point in their lives where they didn’t want to grow up, handled a situation poorly, or realized that their relationship with someone has changed

Coming of age is a recurring theme that is universally known throughout many different pieces of literature. Whether it’s influenced on true experiences, childhood memories, or even based on one’s current juvenile reality, many of theses works have a correlation between them that include many similar ordeals and struggles that the character goes through in order to metamorphosize into taking their first step out of childhood. One prominent theme that often appears is how one experiences and faces a time of tribulation and other walls that stand in one’s path. In effect, hardships mature and enlighten one, causing the loss of something such as childhood innocence. Lastly, these three combined points finally lead to one’s metamorphosis out of childhood. All in all, these three factors take one out of childhood, and slowly allows one step out into the reality of this world.

In coming of age stories, the protagonists often experience a pensive and dramatic moment where either they break through to adulthood or retreat to childhood - it is this moment that unveils the magnitude of growing up for the reader.

If society was asked what defines “coming of age,” what would it say? Some would say people come of age when they act more mature, think grown up thoughts, or do certain actions. This quote by someone unknown helps form an explanation of what coming of age is: “Maturity doesn’t mean age; it means sensitivity, manners, and how you react.” In the literature piece “The First Part Last,” the author Angela Johnson writes about two teenagers, Bobby and Nia, who struggle with the difficulties of teen pregnancy. Throughout the book, they both face many hardships that put their relationship, patience, and responsibility to the test. With the help of a red balloon, a basketball, and family pictures in a doctor’s office, Bobby comes of age after paying attention to these symbols and signs throughout the novel.

Most of the time, becoming an adult is planned. There are religious ceremonies, the gaining of a driver’s license, and other forms of new responsibility to signify the coming of age. Sometimes though maturity comes at you like a freight train. It comes at you in the blink of an eye and there is no stopping it once it hits you. You are forced to grow up and take on new responsibilities that you thought you wouldn’t have to take on until many years later. It's up to you though to decide what to do from there. You can either try and run away from the problems you have come to face or you can take the train head on and conquer what has been presented to you. I decided to face the train.

What does it mean to grow up? Does it mean washing your car, paying your bills, getting a job? Does it mean getting married, having kids, and sprouting gray hair? Is it necessary? Is everyone capable of it? Is it going to be hard and will it be worth the effort? All of these questions are probably what made Peter Pan decide to never leave Neverland. Growing up means a lot of different things to many different people. If we look at the words “growing up”, we simply think of the physical aspect of ageing, growing tall and wide. But for most people, growing up means something deeper involving a change in the approach that an individual has to life and the actions that are taken with it. In this essay, we will look at why people have

A major event in my life that marked my transition to adulthood was the summer of my 9th grade year when I was accepted into a pre-college program called the Young Scholars Program offered at the University of Maryland. Upon arrival they told us you are a college student working for college credit, which scared me because this experience was totally foreign to me. This program had a class called CMSC 198B: Computer Science– A Hands off Approach. This class was an eye opener because I had no indication on what computer science was at the time. I lived on campus with over 100 different students, we were all taking classes there for the summer to gain more educational experiences beyond high school. I was alone without any friends or family for the first time in my life. This was also the first time I had done

Throughout this short story, the idea of taking loved ones for granted is constantly portrayed. “They decide to spend the day alone,