Mature In The Moustache, By Robert Cormier

Growing up and becoming mature is something most young people look forward to. Robert Cormier’s short story “ The Moustache” is about a young teenager named Mike, who is being forced to go to a nursing home to visit his grandmother. In the beginning, of the text, Mike is very immature and childish as a person, and in general. However, as the story progresses, readers begin to see a change in Mike as he realizes that his grandmother is not just her grandmother, she is someone else as well. In “The Moustache” by Robert Cormier, Mike starts off the story as an immature boy but when he sees that his grandmother is a person and not just her grandmother and therefore he becomes mature.

To begin, Mike starts the story as and immature, young teenager who wants to grow up fast. In the story, Mike has to visit his grandmother in a nursing home. But he doesn’t want to. He takes his dad’s new Le Mans and races off. Mike explains that “...My ambition was to see the speedometer hit seventy-five” (Cormier 2). From analyzing Mike’s thoughts, it is clear that he doesn’t want to visit his grandmother. He rather go to his date with his girlfriend, Cindy. And obviously he doesn’t know the dangers of speeding. Furthermore,

readers see Mike’s foolishness in the nursing home. Mike explains “their were so many old people. Nobody young…” (Cormier 3). Again, we can see that he is still not over the fact that he has to visit a nursing home. As readers can see, Mike starts off his journey as young, childish teenager who needs to learn how to make more wise choices.

When Mike realizes that her grandmother is not just her grandmother, she is a person. As Mike talks to her grandmother he notices that her memories “old people aren’t supposed to have…” (Cormier 6). At this point in the story, Mike’s thinking about his grandmother begins to change. He starts to become mature. During this moment, Mike suddenly finds out that “she’s a person, she’s somebody. She’s my grandmother… but she’s also herself. Like my own mother and father…” (Cormier 6). With this realization he learns how his grandmother is going through. And with that he tells her the thing she been wanting to hear. With this moment the readers see Mike’s maturity for the first time.

After visiting his grandmother, Mike become more mature and aware.

Once Mike returns from the nursing home, he starts acting like a grown up. He explains to his mother “I told her she was fine, I told her a lot of things…” (Cormier 5). Through this experience, Mike learns that it might be something from the outside and something else in the inside. He realizes that he does not want to grow up fast. He explains “ I went upstairs and shaved my moustache off” (cormier 7). By seeing this he learns that growing up is not easy. You have to give it time. By doing this he becomes more wise and mature. By visiting the nursing home, Mike learns that you can grow a moustache to look older but from the outside but you have to act older and that’s what matters the

most.

Robert Cormier tells a story of a young teenager who is immature and foolish. At the beginning of the story, Mike is acting very childish because he doesn’t feel like visiting his grandmother. But when he reaches the nursing home and meets her, he realizes that not everybody is the same. Not everybody is just who you think they are. It is then in the nursing home that the readers see for the first time Mike’s mature and grown-up side. It is important to understand that characters can change due to negative or positive experiences.