Themes In Coming Of Age Stories

     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

Most common cultures have rituals, celebrations, or traditional ceremonies to acknowledge the coming of age of boys and/or girls. The Hispanic culture have a traditional “Quinceañera” for young teenage girls turning age 15 to recognize her coming of age as a woman. Jews have “Bar Mitzvah” for men or “Bat Mitzvah” for women to celebrate coming of age. Although in some cultures, celebrating coming age is nothing less than actually celebrating; but in other cultures, such as Aborigine culture, rather than having a huge celebration, young teenage boys, age thirteen, are enduring an essential evaluation. In this stage of their life, their elders test them to see if they are “man” enough to survive by themselves.

The short story “The Glass Roses”, is a coming of age story that’s thematic topic revolves around a search for identity. Stephen, who is only a boy of 15 years struggles to understand what attaining manhood really is when he meets Leka, a man who juxtaposes Stephen’s father’s identity. Through his struggle, Nowlan leads us to the understanding of the influence of family and community on identity, the different versions of what makes a man, and a youth’s development of identity as a man. Nowlan suggests that youths are very impressionable during their coming of age, and what they have grown up with is who they are likely to become. For example, Stephen’s father is a hard man who expects much the same Stephen. Though through Leka, he sees

The Novella “The Body” by Stephen King is about a group of boys who all come from abusive dysfunctional families and this book is their journey to discover a dead body. They are young and their immaturity makes them excited to see a dead body but along the way, they begin to realize various things and begin to grow. In this book the four boys Gordie, Chris, Vern, and Teddy come of age. In this essay, there will be brief descriptions about three of the four of the boys from this novella. Chris came from a bad family and was thought to come out the exact same way as his family and was doubted his whole life. Teddy came from an abusive family where his father burned off his ears and took away his hearing. Gordie’s older brother Dennis had died and his family began to treat him like he was invisible and that their only child had died. “Coming of age is when an adolescent protagonist comes to childhood by a process of experience and disillusionment. These characters lose their innocence, discovers that previous preconceptions are false or has the security of childhood torn away, but usually matures and strengthened by this process” (Matthew’s Quote). In Stephen King’s novella “The Body” King shows through Chris, Gordie, and Teddy that a person cannot come of age unless they are able to come to contact with their emotions and reality and be able to forgive to move forward in life.

Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.

14 kids have sealed themselves in a superstore as a freak hailstorm and serious chemical weapons spill threaten to bring the world to its knees. Once brothers Alex and Dean establish a sense of security, they find that their only chance of rescue is to drive 67 miles across the now deadly state of Colorado to the nearest airport for evacuation. Dean and the others with type O bloods decide to stay behind because the poisoned air outside would turn them into savage rage-fueled monsters.

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.

Summative - Write a literary analysis that develops an original thesis about the Coming of Age genre. Be sure to incorporate at least three stories.

To truly understand what adulthood means, grasping who we are as people, we all must first undergo a metamorphosis. This transformation from boy to man has overtime been a common theme amongst writers. Typically, the passage a young adult must make to enter adulthood is romantic or sexual, experiencing their first relationship, or purchasing their first condom. However, a severe, twisted and arguably more meaningful test into adulthood is understanding mortality, and one’s depth of humanity. Mercilessness of individuals and our world is often viewed as a theme amongst horror novels, creating an ideal platform for a coming of age adventure. In all forms of storytelling, character archetypes are expressed. How they react in various

Rituals around the world all teach valuable lessons that help initiates see the value and importance of life. Each culture has different rituals that provide experiences for their youth to learn these valuable lessons of life. Many coming of age rituals are intense procedures. The Amazon's Satere Mawé youth enter adulthood through the bullet-ant glove initiation, teaching courage and endurance, and the crocodile scaring ritual that the men from the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea participate in teaches them pain and accomplishment.

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.

Older characters in movies are depicted as wise people who guide others along the correct paths. These adults play an important role by supporting the major characters so that they may continue after they make a mistake or stray from their goal. Elders are depicted as having great compassion and understanding or having more worldly knowledge than the other characters in the film. Though many older characters are commonly portrayed as understanding they do not always follow the archetype. Each race has their own type of elder that go about helping characters in different ways. Asian elders tend to be very strict when dealing with younger characters were as asian elders tend to be cryptic or non-exist as they want younger people to find their

When you hear someone say “coming of age” you think of new responsibilities and expectations, that come with milestones of a certain age group. There are different ages that have different expectations, becoming a teenager, society expects that you accept more responsibility and that you are able to care for yourself in most situations. The ideals that society creates and expects us to follow often increase in responsibility as we grow older.

The movie I've chosen to display the "Coming of Age" theme is Beauty & the Beast; a classic Disney tale whose story revolves around a young, middle-class book worm named Belle, and a conceited prince-turned-monster who is only ever referred to as "Beast". I believe this movie perfectly fits into the 'Coming of Age' model as both of its main characters experience drastic life changes, which turn out to be valuable learning experiences in the end. On Belle's side of things, a series of unfortunate events in relation to her father wind her up a prisoner for life to, you guessed it, the Beast. In her so-called 'imprisonment', Belle captivates the heart of the Beast, along with the other inhabitants of his castle, and becomes independent as a result of her deficient parental unit.

As a reader, I find myself drawn to stories with themes in relation to good versus evil and coming of age. Some concepts that I like to read about are dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories. As a writer, I do occasionally lean towards dystopias, but I am much more likely to find myself writing about an imperfect romance. My fiction writing does tend to involve themes in relation to good versus evil, but I focus more on the fact that good and evil are not always black and white.