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Gaganpal Sidhu Ms. Storey ENG 3UO April 30th,2015 Maturity Found in Individual Versus Society Maturity is a trait that signifies that an individual has encountered growth and development due to experiences that have altered their mindsets. In The Hungry Ghosts by Shyam Selvadurai, Shivan struggles to be accepted by society due to his background and his sexual orientation. By the end of the novel, Shivan is no longer the same individual due to accepting his mistakes in his relationship, becoming aware that his fate will remain unchanged and resolving his conflicts. Shyam Selvadurai conveys the growth of Shivan in The Hungry Ghosts through the exploration of the Canadian theme, individual …show more content…
versus society. Shivan matures by developing a relationship with Mili, deciding to live in an undesirable atmosphere for the sake of others, and the resolution of conflicts with his grandmother. Maturity is evident through his relationship with Mili, the undesirable atmosphere and resolution of his conflicts with his grandmother. Shivan's maturity is clear as his relationship with Mili starts to develop, and he grows to accept that being in a gay relationship in Sri Lanka can harm them. Coming from a country where being gay is considered a sin, he continues to fight against society's norm and dismisses the signs that him and Mili should not be together. However, Shivan further realizes that it is only downhill from here in their relationship, "Those early weeks were magical, but the impossibility of our love was already between us." (Selvadurai, 172) Shivan matures by understanding that under his circumstances, this relationship will not be able to survive but he accepts the precautions he will have to take. Secondly, Mili and Shivan are individuals that come from powerful families. By opening up about their sexuality, it will ruin societies perception of their families, therefore they are hidden in the dark. Both individuals are upset, but Shivan matures by knowing how coming out to the society they live in, will wound himself, his family, and Mili, "My chaos of emotions made me impatient for Mili's cares and I could sense he too was frustrated by our limitations." (Selvadurai ,219). It is clear that Shivan later on matures, by not putting blame on his grandmother for killing Mili, but rather himself, by the unwise choices he is making, "I, more than anyone, should have known what she was capable of. By my stupidity, I killed him." (Selvadurai, 239) He accepts his loss and understands that by living in a society that was harsh, he should not have put himself in harms way.The theme of individual versus society highlights Shivan's maturity as he is able to accept his loss and how Mili and himself endangered themselves because of the society they live in. Shivan's maturity becomes evident as he accepts the mindsets of those around him and his atmosphere will always be undesirable.
Shivan struggles to come out about his sexuality and as a result, he must put his feelings aside for the sake of others. The atmosphere that he is surrounded with is unwelcoming and revolves around different views. "I turned away and pretended to stare at the view, bothered by this allusion of marriage." (197, Selvadurai) Although, someone mentioned marriage to Shivan, he chose to politely remain silent instead of rebutting about his future and his sexual orientation. He matures in this unwelcoming atmosphere, as he accepts the flaws of the people around him. Furthermore, Shivan acquires that he cannot change the atmosphere he is in. He matures by understanding his family will never fulfill his happiness because their mindsets differ. "I felt no surprise, no longing, no gladness to hear their familiar voice." (247, Selvadurai) Even after hearing from his family, he knows that his emotions cannot get in the way of his confusion and frustration towards his unaccepting society and family. The theme Individual versus Society is evident through Shivan's development due to the undesirable atmosphere that he is faced
with. Shivan develops a mature persona as he is resolving his conflicts with his grandmother. A problem that has been sprung on Shivan since he was born is that he is half Sinhalese and half Tamil, the countries that are at war with each other. Shivan matures by ignoring his thoughts because regardless, his grandmother's perception of love for him will always be 'different' due to societies mindset on his biracial background, "There are many times where I have rage inside at that phase of hers, and at that malformed thing she calls love." (26, Selvadurai) Shivan does not rage at his grandmother for this; he knows that to make his grandmother happy he will have to struggle internally even if what she does is damaging him. Secondly, Shivan matures by coming back home to Sri Lanka, where he is not accepted by society, to take care of his grandmother, due to her health issues. Shivan is terrified of being back home, but he supports his grandmother, "'I am here Amma, yes I am here.' I catch the rictus of terror on my face as I turn from the mirrors." (233, Selvadurai) Although, Shivan is unhappy in a place where he does not belong, he is maturing by being there for his Grandmother during her hardship although he is being treated badly by her. Individual versus society is a prevalent theme in Shivan's maturity as Shivan's decisions revolve around making others happy and sacrifices to be there for family, even though he will never fully be accepted or loved. Shivan's relationship with Mili, the undesirable atmosphere he lived in, and the resolution of conflicts all display his growth in terms of maturity through the Canadian theme of individual vs society. As Shivan becomes more mature, he is able to sustain the hardship's of his background and sexual orientation and with a understanding between himself he is finally able to give up what he desired all to please his Grandma. Furthermore, his relationship with Mili conveys his maturity as he realizes peace will never be found in a place where they consider homosexuality a plague.Lastly, Shivan's conflicts are resolved as a result of him becoming more emotionally mature. By being willing to accept and understand emotions Shivan is able to become more mature and grow as a individual .
The book “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction” was published in the year 2008 on the 12th of February by Knopf Canada. The author of this book is Dr. Gabor Mate who has worked for twelve years in the eastside Vancouver with patients suffering from addiction, mental illness and HIV. He is also a renowned speaker and a bestselling author. He also received the Hubert Evans Prize for Literary Non-Fiction and the 2012 Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award for his work. (….)
Your age doesn't determine how or if you are coming of age, Your mindset and mentality to move forward determines that. The Novella “The Body” by Stephen King is about a group of boys who all come from abusive, dysfunctional families and this book is their journey to discover a dead body. They are young and their immaturity makes them excited to see a dead body, but along the way, they begin to realize various things and begin to grow. In this book, the four boys Gordie, Chris, Vern, and Teddy come of age. In this essay, there will be brief descriptions about three of the four of the boys from this novella. Chris came from a bad family and was thought to come out the exact same way as his family and was doubted his whole life. Teddy came from
To reach maturity requires a loss of innocence. For example, when a child finds out there is no Santa Claus, he is caught between a magical belief and a reality that he is unwilling to accept. It's a coming-of-age experience that changes his outlook on life forever. The child has lost some of his previous innocence and must face life's harsh realities. This process can be confusing and painful. In some ways, a loss of innocence forces us to become more mature by gathering wisdom and knowledge from a metamorphic experience. Metamorphosis is as much a spiritual change as it is a physical one. It is a natural process that helps a person grow and develop.
The book ghosts from the nursery: tracing the roots of violence which had been written by Robin Kar-Morse and Meredith S Wiley. Meredith S Wiley provides the person who reads an in detail look at child abuse and neglect. Morse and Wiley both discuss in detail the effects of neglect and abuse, looking at specifically at violence in children. The detail of the book is it follows a young male who is of the age of 19 years old named Jeffery, who is given the sentence of death row due to committing a murder when he was of the age of 16 years old. Jeffery’s case was a beautiful case study for the authors and audience to analyse and relate theories to. By looking at cases such as Jeffery and looking at other children who are in similar situation, both authors start to look at the honesty about the subtle and crucial years of infancy and early childhood.
Maturity is not a fickle expression such as happiness or frustration, but rather an inherent quality one gains over time, such as courage or integrity. Before maturity can be expressed, the one who expresses it must have significant confidence in himself, since self-confidence is the root of maturity. Being flexible and formulating one's own opinions or ideas are aspects of maturity, but neither is possible without self-confidence. The greatest aspect of maturity is the ability to make decisions which society does not agree with. Whether or not one follows through with these ideas is not important. What is important is the ability to make the decision. These decisions represent the greatest measure of maturity.
Selvadurai uses an allusion to demonstrate his grandmother’s role as a negative mentor in Shivan’s life. His dream of seeing his grandmother “incarnated as the demoness Kali” running after him (in the body of his mother) is very telling of what Shivan subconsciously thinks of his grandmother. (Selvadurai 371) The demoness Kali is the Hindu goddess of destruction. Though she is seen as a god, her physical appearance is quite appalling. Her dark skin, red eyes, fangs and necklace made of human heads are all quite terrifying. When portrayed, she is often seen standing on top of the Hindu god Shiva as well. Kali’s frightful appearance, paired with her relationship with the god Shiva is very telling of Shivan’s relationship with his aachi. He fears her with every fibre of his being. In said dream, he imagines himself as his mother, carrying a child, running from his grandmother, but proving to be unfruitful when Kali, “snatches the infant from [his] arms and opens her mouth wide to consume him”. (Selvadurai 371) This baby is Shivan, and Kali eating the baby shows how as a mentor, she has taken away all the innocence from Shivan and taken him away from his mother. Shivan’s ammi shows how even negative mentors can push their mentees into
The evolution Andy has from seeing things idealistically to realistically, the ignorance to knowledge transition and the selfless rather than selfish decisions all bind together to demonstrate a maturing development; this is an often-required aspect found in stories of the coming of age genre. Furthermore, this growth is a candid experience that all adolescence will undeniably face and gaining this maturity is something that one must develop; it does not come with age alone. All members of society will go through this change at some point in life. These maturing experiences are the unavoidable guarantee of entering
man, develop into an adult while dealing with the many crude actions and ways of
...the future to see that his life is not ruined by acts of immaturity. And, in “Araby”, we encounter another young man facing a crisis of the spirit who attempts to find a very limiting connection between his religious and his physical and emotional passions. In all of these stories, we encounter boys in the cusp of burgeoning manhood. What we are left with, in each, is the understanding that even if they can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, we can. These stories bind all of us together in their universal messages…youth is something we get over, eventually, and in our own ways, but we cannot help get over it.
When has someone achieved maturity? They achieve it when they have fully developed their mind and are able to fend for themselves successfully. In The Glass Castle , Jeannette Walls illustrates her childhood with a mother who acted more like her children then a responsible adult. Rose Mary did not nurture her children in a typical way, but ultimately the children must fend for themselves. Fending for herself and her siblings affects Jeannette’s adult feelings regarding her mother because of how it taught her to not be dependent on others.
Maturity may come at any age and time in a person's life. One moment he or she may be a carefree child, and then suddenly realize that they have been transformed into a mature adult by a powerful and traumatic experience. An experience they will remember their whole lives. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the adolescence of Jem and Scout is threatened one fateful night by a dangerous man bent on taking their lives. After this startling experience, they were never the same again. As a result, they rapidly matured into adults. Similarly, young David Hayden, the narrator of Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, also encounters an equally traumatic event. He discovers that his uncle has been sexually assaulting Native American women in his town. This is a heavy burden for a twelve year old boy, especially since it reveals that his beloved Uncle Frank is the "bad-guy". However, one discovers, as the novel develops, that David matures and grows in order to deal with this situation. He must come to understand what has happened and how the immoral actions of Frank will affect his family and its name. But most importantly, he must know that his integrity will be changed. He will learn shocking things that would mean nothing to a child, but everything to an adult. Larry Watson suggests that traumatic experiences transform children into adults. Therefore, disturbing experiences lead to changes of mind, growth in morals, and an emerging sense of adulthood.
“Growing up” is a very broad term that is used without a true, consistent definition. In essence, it describes and encompasses themes of coming of age and the loss of innocence as a person moves from child to adult. In many respects, people view this change as a specific, pivotal moment in a person’s life, such as an eighteenth birthday, or the day a person leaves their parents’ house. This idea of having a crucial moment in life, which provides the open door into adulthood, is portrayed in many novels. It is easy to find a death that occurs, or a specific event that causes a character to “grow up” prematurely, but many times, contrary to most beliefs, that exact event is not the turn of the key leading through the doors to maturity. It is rather just a small push which starts a domino effect. This is the same scenario in the novel All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. This novel proves that loss of innocence is a learning process rather than the result of a
Growing up is one of the most important stages of human life. It is the part when humans reach maturity, become adults, and attain full growth. Also, it means one more thing. It means understanding more about the society. Harper Lee's, To Kill A Mocking Bird, shows the different ways of growing up. There are three characters who go through the process of growing up, Scout mentally grows up, Jem goes through a mental growing up that every adolescent will go through and aunt Alexandra also goes through a mental growing up.
J. J. Arnett argues his theory about a developmental stage individuals go through of 18-25 year olds as a new concept, (Arnett, 2000, pp. 469). He describes emerging adulthood as being a sustained period of time where this age group, as mentioned previously, explores their roles preceding being an adult. These movements can include events similarly by taking longer than previous years to get married and have children, moving back in with their parents at a point during this age span, exploring self-identities, not feeling like an adult and feelings of self-failure. James E. Cote, who is a previous colleague of Arnett argues the opposite about this concept being an unexperienced developmental stage Arnett calls, “Emerging Adulthood”. Cote states
Maturity is a coming of age when a person is growing emotionally and mentally. Maturity is gained by experiences and decision-making, thus learning from mistakes. This is evident in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Through characterization and symbolism Lee displays maturity.