Coming of Age Essay Examples

Red Sky at Morning and All the Pretty Horses by Richard Bradford and Cormac McCarthy are two novels that encompass a young man’s coming of age experience. Through the use of the unhealable wound, the hunting group of companions, the parent/child conflict, and the use...

Persepolis is a bildungsroman that tells the story of Marji, a young Iranian girl growing up during a time of revolution, turmoil, and war. Her path of growth and development changes direction at a single moment, and she begins to grow up into a young...

The graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a bildungsroman, a novel that deals with the coming-of-age of the protagonist which happens to be the author herself. Marjane develops from an ignorant child to a mature adult as she struggles with who she is regarding...

The House on Mango Street is a captivating, yet simplistic read, but also a very deep and complex read. This book does not flow regularly like most books, instead it has short, choppy chapters that can seem very unconnected. Overall, The House on Mango Street...

Jose de las Luz y Caballero once said “As the fruit ripens, so does the man mature, after many rains, suns and blows.” Throughout the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, the protagonist Philip Pirrip also known as Pip, undergoes many changes from when he...

As a youthful and curious child, the small town that Scout Finch lived in seemed like the world. Since the book To Kill a Mockingbird was set in the south during the course of the 1930s, where she lived included a lot of prejudice and...

Introduction Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange is a novel that explores the nature of youth, and in particular the capacity for a young person to grow, change and develop. In the case of Burgess’s narrative, the central character is named Alex, and the reader follows...

In his novel Mark Twain shows how this young boy named Tom acts as he progresses through childhood. He lives with an aunt named Aunt Polly who is a very strict person. When Tom does things that he should not do she punishes him. Even...

Yann Martel the author of the book “The white tiger” introduces us to a different world where everything we think is unbelievable happens. This is a story about religion, animals, survival and most importantly maturity. From a boy who didn’t know how to treat the...

In his novel Mark Twain shows how this young boy named Tom acts as he progresses through childhood. He lives with an aunt named Aunt Polly who is a very strict person. When Tom does things that he should not do she punishes him. Even...

Every culture has events unique to its people, which are then passed down through each generation. In the Spanish culture, there is a distinct coming of age celebration for young women. This festivity, a Quinceañera, is not only a religious event but a rite of...

As a youthful and curious child, the small town that Scout Finch lived in seemed like the world. Since the book To Kill a Mockingbird was set in the south during the course of the 1930s, where she lived included a lot of prejudice and...

Introduction Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange is a novel that explores the nature of youth, and in particular the capacity for a young person to grow, change and develop. In the case of Burgess’s narrative, the central character is named Alex, and the reader follows...

Dealing with an abusive father, vicious dogs, being chased by a crowd of angry southerners are among the many obstacles Huck Finn faces in his journey to personal salvation, but more explicitly, the saving of his friend Jim. Along this journey, Huck experiences his own...

In literature (novels, folk tales, plays, movies, etc.) one finds presented two forms of so called “coming-of-age” stories. The traditional method is preparation for adulthood. A youth (generally between 10 years old and 20) passes, by some calamity or other intense situation, from the world...

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the short stories that we have been reading over the last couple of weeks; “The Return”, “A&P”, and “The Blue Chevrolet”. The coming of age theme throughout the short stories will be the main focus of this...