Coming Of Age Theme in Literature

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There comes a time in everyone’s life when they reach the point where they are no longer children, but adults. The transition from a child into a young adult is referred to as “the coming of age,” or simply growing up. Certain children reach this stage through a tragic, painful event, which sometimes can potentially change them and the way they view the world.

Other children reach this stage by simply growing up and understanding everything around them. This stage in life is one of the most important in literature.

The coming of age theme is found in many pieces of literature, such as Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak and Deborah Ellis’ The Breadwinner. The main characters in both of these young adult novels experience growth and change in their own ways.

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, readers are given a mental picture of who they think Melinda Sordino is. “The bus picks up students in groups of four or five…I close my eyes. This is what I’ve been dreading. As we leave the last stop, I am the only person sitting alone” (3). What the reader gets is this picture of Melinda Sordino predicting that she’s going to have the worst freshman year ever.

Themes In Speak and The Breadwinner

What I think a lot of readers don’t pick up on right away is that this is the beginning of Melinda’s character developing.

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Speak is a story truly based on the coming of age theme, and unfortunately Melinda’s character grows as a result of a tragic event. The summer before freshman year, Melinda was living a normal, good life. She had tons of friends, good grades, and a loving family. Then the best night of her life turned into the worst. “We were on the ground. When did that happen? “No. No I do not like this. ” “In my head, my voice is as clear as a bell: NO I DON’T WANT TO! (…And he hurts me hurts me hurts me and gets up and zips his jeans, and smiles” (135-136). This traumatic experience would forever change Melinda. “The novel’s title is Speak, but the silence of the main character predominates” (Smith). Melinda’s inability to speak out about what happened isn’t uncommon in girls her age. “The sadness, anger, and sense of betrayal that girls often feel entering this transitional period in their lives is increased by this shocking and demeaning experience” (Smith). She couldn’t find it in her to tell anyone about what had happened, not even her parents.

She just allowed it to take over her. She didn’t care what she looked like when she went to school. She didn’t have any friends because she didn’t have much to say. She came off and depressed, and that’s just what she was. One girl befriended her, only to tell her a few weeks later that they couldn’t be friends anymore; she wasn’t giving her a good image. She was using her for her lack of friends herself. Melinda found herself in art. This was the one place she could express how she was feeling without anybody finding out the truth. Mr.

Freeman, the art teacher at her high school, is the one person who helps her grow. He encourages her to express herself through her art theme: trees. This tree serves as a symbol in the book. All throughout the book Melinda struggles with life, just as she struggles with creating the perfect piece of art through trees. Mr. Freeman sees her pain through what she creates, and only encourages her more to keep going. The trees are symbolic of Melinda’s growth as a person. As she starts to realize that the rape was not her fault, her trees start becoming more real.

Towards the end of the book Melinda asks her father to pick her up some flower seeds while he runs to the hardware store. This is one of the first steps towards communication. Through her whole isolated freshman year, Melinda finally finds the courage to speak out about what happened to her. It took the help of a classmate and an art teacher to help her realize that what happened was not her fault, and that she couldn’t live like that forever. When she shows Mr. Freeman her final tree, it is complete with wounds and a low dead branch. “He sits on the stool and hands back my tree. You get an A+. You worked hard on this. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? ” “Let me tell you about it” (198). This is a major point in this book. Melinda is finally ready to speak. The low dead branch symbolizes who she was for that whole year; dead inside. After getting the truth out, Melinda begins to rekindle old friendships and communication with her parents. Melinda has grown so much through this experience. She has learned that one must speak up for themselves. Our society needs to instill this is children at a young age. It seems to be something that we struggle with.

She has matured so much since the beginning of the school year. In Deborah Ellis’ The Breadwinner, Parvana, the main character, experiences much of the coming of age theme through a traumatic and painful experience. Being a female in Afghanistan is not easy. Their freedom has been taken away from them. They are not allowed to attend school. They are not allowed to be outside, unless they are with their father or husband. Freedom has been stripped from their lives. Their lives were pretty bad, but at least their family was together. Little did they know it was about to get worse. The whole family was laughing when four Taliban soldiers burst through the door…Two soldiers grabbed her father…Parvana watched helplessly as two soldiers dragged him down the steps, his beautiful shalwar kameez ripping on the rough cement. Then they turned a corner, and she could see them no more” (30-31). Being a child was no longer an option for Parvana. She needed to grow up fast. Parvana was elected to do the unthinkable-she was about to become a boy. After all, she was the least developed. Her older sister Nooria was too developed to take on that role. This is definitely one example of the coming of age theme.

Parvana has stepped up and has taken the role of “Kaseem. ” This was the only way to provide for her family. Stepping out of her gender was the only option, the only way they wouldn’t get caught and punished, or even killed. Parvana found a job reading letters sent to the soldiers in the Taliban. She made enough to barely feed her family, but it was better than nothing. She soon ran into a girl from one of her classes when she was able to attend school, who had the same idea that Parvana’s family had for her. She was a “tea boy” now, trying to provide for her family also.

She came up with an idea that she knew made more money than what they were making. They were going to dig up bones. Nooria, Parvana’s older sister, was never really nice to her, and was always bossing her around. This could just be their age, and not completely understanding how severe their situation really is. Nooria’s dream was to go to college, and that was taken away from her. This may have left Nooria bitter. When Parvana’s mother learns of her new way of making money, she is absolutely against it. “So this is what we’ve become in Afghanistan,” Mother said. We dig up the bones of our ancestors in order to feed our families” (115). Nooria then sticks up for Parvana. This is the first time Nooria has been positive about anything Parvana has done. Nooria has matured through this whole experience. She realizes how important family is, and that desperate times call for desperate measures. “These are unusual times. They call for ordinary people to do unusual things, just to get by” (116). Parvana and her friend did this long enough to earn a decent amount of money, and Parvana went back to her blanket in the market. Parvana really stepped up for her family.

She took her siblings outside whenever they had the chance, she worked so she could go to the market and buy food for her family, and she was constantly getting water from the neighborhood tap. She realized that she could no longer be passive, and that she had to take control. And that is just what she did. Parvana finally got her father back, but now her mother and sister were on their way to Mazar, where they thought they would be safe. They soon found out that the Taliban was there, also. Though the ending isn’t exactly happy, it does offer hope that the family will be reunited The novel’s focus on how women’s lives are heavily restricted by laws rather than by personal choice is crucial in understanding the nature of external freedom” (Harper). Parvana and her family want to fight for freedom, and her mother demonstrates that nicely. Her and a friend create an underground magazine that would be sent to women all over the world. This family is truly remarkable. So much maturing and growing existed in this family. Both Speak and The Breadwinner demonstrate the coming of age theme. The character’s growths in these stories are just phenomenal.

Sometimes it takes a really bad situation to truly learn about one’s self. Both Melinda and Parvana had to experience something traumatic in order to find who they truly were. Parvana learned that she would do anything for her family, even her bossy sister. Melinda learned the importance of speaking up and standing up for herself. These books teach valuable life lessons. Not only is The Breadwinner a coming of age novel, it teaches about what life is like in Afghanistan. It reminds readers how lucky they are to be living in a country where they have so much freedom.

Incorporating vocabulary used in Afghanistan allows readers to really feel like they are in the story. Coming of age in literature truly allows readers to relate to characters in the story, and aide them in growing.

Works Cited

• Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Penguin Group, 1999.
• Bean, Thomas W. and Harper, Helen J. Exploring notions of freedom in and through young adult literature. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Oct2006, Vol. 50, Issue 2, p96-104, 9p (AN 22521106).
• Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner. USA: 2001.
• Smith, Sally. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 10813004, Mar2000, Vol. 43, Issue 6.