Coming Of Age Story

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Coming of Age: The Effects of Traumatic Experiences on the Acceleration of Childhood Maturation
Within the world of entertainment people enjoy movies and novels that relate to a common human experience. This experience can be the common love story, a childhood friendship, or often times a coming of age story. The coming of age story is a timeless one both in fiction and biographies. These stories are quite popular among readers due to their relatable and honest experiences. Within these coming of age stories one thing remains constant, a factor or experience that accelerates the coming of age within the individual. Within the novels To Kill a Mockingbird, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Ellen Foster, there is a unifying theme of the effects …show more content…
The narrator in discussion is Ellen Foster, a girl in middle childhood, reminiscing on the troubles she experienced as a child growing up in a broken home. Although, Ellen battled through verbal abuse from her father during the years before her mother’s death, this had little effect on her, as she had lived her entire life dealing with this. However, after the traumatic death of her mother it is seen that Ellen is pushed to come of age, as her father is a blackout drunk that is incapable of caring for her. An instance of Ellen beginning her maturation, occurs during Christmas when she buys her own presents and wraps them in order to be “very surprised in the spirit of Christmas” (Gibbons 28). This activity she takes upon herself to complete is heartbreaking for any reader, but it shows that Ellen is trying to have a normal childhood experience, even if she had to force it. This struggle to reach normalcy is something many individuals face during their lifetime, although few face the struggles that Ellen does within the novel. Part of Ellen’s coming of age can be seen in her views of her deceased father. During her younger anger filled years she says, “Damn him to the bottom of hell damn him” (Gibbons 10). This statement is powerful and filled with guilt over his connection with her mother’s death; however, Ellen curbs these emotions and eventually numbs herself to the thought of her father. This lack of emotion is evident as she says, she feels “the way you feel when they say a star or a old president is dead and you feel sorry for a flash” (Gibbons 69). In this statement, Ellen has finally conquered the influence her father held over her for many years, and through this lack of emotion when concerning her father, Ellen is able to move along and proceed towards a normal life. This shows
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