The Theme of Coming of Age in Literature Essay

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The Theme of Coming of Age in Literature

There comes a time is each person'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 often referred to as the "coming of age," or growing up. The time when this transition occurs is different in everyone, since everyone is an individual and no two people are alike. Certain children reach this stage through a tragic, painful event which affects them to such extent that they are completely changed. Other children reach this time by simply growing older and having a better understanding of the world around them. The coming of age really is indefinite and cannot be marked in general overview. This stage in
life …show more content…
The circumstances Brian was put under after the plane crashed changed his life forever. When he returned home, he looked at things from a different perspective and was not quick to take small things for granted .

Lastly, Hugh Maclennan's story "Explosion" is a story about a young boy named Roddie Wain, who was late for school on the famous morning that Mont Blanc crashed into another ship on the Halifax harbor, causing monstrous destruction.
Roddie Wain begins his journey of coming of age on this morning when he is faced with the continuance of death, screams, and shrieks, surrounding him. Through the days events, this child grows in to a young man through a series of shocking and terrifying events. Near the beginning of the story, Roddie is only a child who was late for school, and knows he is not in trouble due to the tornado that just passed because of the explosion. He is happy that he will not be in trouble. By the end of the story, he wishes he was back in school and in trouble rather than being faced with the horrible sight of death and blood. An the end of the story it is also rather obvious that he is not only saying that he wants to be back in school, he is also saying that he wants to be a child again. Something impossible, after all his has seen and been through. The theme coming of age is found over and over again in literature, but each time we learn something new. Humankind too comes of age with each new story, facing the universal process of
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