To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Analysis
June 2, 2014
Coming of Age
Throughout the year, we've read several books with well developed character that reach a point of maturity after going through a dramatic experience. Each character from each book such as
Great
Expectations, Night, Odyssey, The Most Dangerous Game, Romeo and Juliet
, and
The Joy Luck Club, was well developed, important, and overcame a time of trial. Each character reached a “coming of age” and a certain level of maturity that allowed the reader to relate to the specific character. To “come of age” means you start seeing the way the world works, whether it is against or for you. It is when you start to realize what you stand for. Each character in these books realized it through persevering through opposing forces, and viewing the world positively. …show more content…
In life comes a point where not everyone will agree with you, or support your decisions. That is the difficulty in life. From a young age we are told no, only because mom said so. We were brokenhearted when we asked for that bag of cookies, chocolate, and those little sour candies and were told no because it was for our own good and we couldn’t see what was wrong with a few sweets. As we grow older, the disagreements become more serious and reasonable. In
Romeo & Juliet
,
Great
Expectations
, and
Joy Luck Club
, disagreements similar to the things we face are shown. In
Romeo &
Juliet
, when Juliet, a Capulet, did the unthinkable and fell in love with Romeo Montague. Her parents opposed to it, so she didn’t tell them. The ending was tragic but brought both families together. In
Great Expectations
, Philip wanted to pursue his dream of being a gentlemen to conquer Estella’s heart.
Instead, his family wanted him to become Joe’s apprentice and stay a blacksmith. Instead he pursued his own dream. In chapter fifteen Pip says “Whenever I watched the vessels standing out to sea with their white sails spread, I somehow thought of Miss Havisham and Estella; and whenever the light struck aslant, afar off, upon acloud or sail or green hillside or waterline, it was just the same. Miss
Havisham and Estella and the strange house and the strange life appeared to have something to do with
everything that was picturesque.” This was at the beginning of the book, when all he wanted was her.
But then in the first and original ending, Pip was glad Estella suffered long. Both of these characters show us that maybe sometimes, the opposing force is not always wrong, which shows us that you need a certain level of maturity to make your own choices. In
Joy Luck Club
, the mothers had a dream for their daughters. The mothers all made sacrifices for their families to be successful but not in the way the daughters wanted. They wanted to pursue their own dreams. In part one, one of the daughters realizes it saying, “And then it occurs to me. They are frightened. In me, they see their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful of all the truths and hopes they have brought to America. They see daughters who grow impatient when their mothers talk in Chinese, who think they are stupid when they explain things in fractured English. They see that joy and luck do not mean the same to their daughters, that to these closed Americanborn minds "joy luck" is not a word, it does not exist. They see daughters who will bear grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation.”
This time showing that she finally understood their mindset and disappointment. It takes a specific amount of maturity and self control to keep a positive mind through hard times. As a little kid, you express your emotions through sharp bursts of anger or expressions of sadness. Once you’re older, you learn to control those emotions.
Pip was expected to act and behave a certain way. He thought becoming richer would set him free, but instead it came with some consequences and greater expectations. But all of this helped him view the world around him more
positively.
He began to understand that no one around him should tell him how to live his own life. He realized that he learned to be independent and now he can live without anyone telling him what to do.
Although he went his own path and it did not go as expected, he learned from those experiences and kept his head high throughout it all. In
To Kill a Mockingbird
, Atticus defended Tom Robinson and it lead to Scout being made fun of for being the daughter of a “niggerlover”. Not only that, but her Aunt
Alexandra despised everything she did and she disagreed with everything Atticus did to raise her. She
was surrounded by a lot of negative influence like the entire town of Maycomb. Scout was small but as the novel went on, she learned to control herself and her anger. There were two occasions in which
Scout wanted to run away but she was mature enough to know not to. She tried to not complain and she tried to stay happy. A 9 year old girl, trying to understand the world in a time of prejudice against a certain race, was a better example of someone “coming of age” than most people are now.
As we come to the closing of this year, I can see the broad picture and the theme that
was shown throughout the entire year. The coming of age. Coming of age is to understand others, to stay positive through the hardest situations life may bring you, it means the veil that covered your eyes is lifted. It may mean loss of innocence. Each character in the books we read this year overcame a time of trial and reached an important milestone and level of maturity through persevering and keeping a positive attitude.
Coming of Age
Throughout the year, we've read several books with well developed character that reach a point of maturity after going through a dramatic experience. Each character from each book such as
Great
Expectations, Night, Odyssey, The Most Dangerous Game, Romeo and Juliet
, and
The Joy Luck Club, was well developed, important, and overcame a time of trial. Each character reached a “coming of age” and a certain level of maturity that allowed the reader to relate to the specific character. To “come of age” means you start seeing the way the world works, whether it is against or for you. It is when you start to realize what you stand for. Each character in these books realized it through persevering through opposing forces, and viewing the world positively. …show more content…
In life comes a point where not everyone will agree with you, or support your decisions. That is the difficulty in life. From a young age we are told no, only because mom said so. We were brokenhearted when we asked for that bag of cookies, chocolate, and those little sour candies and were told no because it was for our own good and we couldn’t see what was wrong with a few sweets. As we grow older, the disagreements become more serious and reasonable. In
Romeo & Juliet
,
Great
Expectations
, and
Joy Luck Club
, disagreements similar to the things we face are shown. In
Romeo &
Juliet
, when Juliet, a Capulet, did the unthinkable and fell in love with Romeo Montague. Her parents opposed to it, so she didn’t tell them. The ending was tragic but brought both families together. In
Great Expectations
, Philip wanted to pursue his dream of being a gentlemen to conquer Estella’s heart.
Instead, his family wanted him to become Joe’s apprentice and stay a blacksmith. Instead he pursued his own dream. In chapter fifteen Pip says “Whenever I watched the vessels standing out to sea with their white sails spread, I somehow thought of Miss Havisham and Estella; and whenever the light struck aslant, afar off, upon acloud or sail or green hillside or waterline, it was just the same. Miss
Havisham and Estella and the strange house and the strange life appeared to have something to do with
everything that was picturesque.” This was at the beginning of the book, when all he wanted was her.
But then in the first and original ending, Pip was glad Estella suffered long. Both of these characters show us that maybe sometimes, the opposing force is not always wrong, which shows us that you need a certain level of maturity to make your own choices. In
Joy Luck Club
, the mothers had a dream for their daughters. The mothers all made sacrifices for their families to be successful but not in the way the daughters wanted. They wanted to pursue their own dreams. In part one, one of the daughters realizes it saying, “And then it occurs to me. They are frightened. In me, they see their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful of all the truths and hopes they have brought to America. They see daughters who grow impatient when their mothers talk in Chinese, who think they are stupid when they explain things in fractured English. They see that joy and luck do not mean the same to their daughters, that to these closed Americanborn minds "joy luck" is not a word, it does not exist. They see daughters who will bear grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation.”
This time showing that she finally understood their mindset and disappointment. It takes a specific amount of maturity and self control to keep a positive mind through hard times. As a little kid, you express your emotions through sharp bursts of anger or expressions of sadness. Once you’re older, you learn to control those emotions.
Pip was expected to act and behave a certain way. He thought becoming richer would set him free, but instead it came with some consequences and greater expectations. But all of this helped him view the world around him more
positively.
He began to understand that no one around him should tell him how to live his own life. He realized that he learned to be independent and now he can live without anyone telling him what to do.
Although he went his own path and it did not go as expected, he learned from those experiences and kept his head high throughout it all. In
To Kill a Mockingbird
, Atticus defended Tom Robinson and it lead to Scout being made fun of for being the daughter of a “niggerlover”. Not only that, but her Aunt
Alexandra despised everything she did and she disagreed with everything Atticus did to raise her. She
was surrounded by a lot of negative influence like the entire town of Maycomb. Scout was small but as the novel went on, she learned to control herself and her anger. There were two occasions in which
Scout wanted to run away but she was mature enough to know not to. She tried to not complain and she tried to stay happy. A 9 year old girl, trying to understand the world in a time of prejudice against a certain race, was a better example of someone “coming of age” than most people are now.
As we come to the closing of this year, I can see the broad picture and the theme that
was shown throughout the entire year. The coming of age. Coming of age is to understand others, to stay positive through the hardest situations life may bring you, it means the veil that covered your eyes is lifted. It may mean loss of innocence. Each character in the books we read this year overcame a time of trial and reached an important milestone and level of maturity through persevering and keeping a positive attitude.