Melancholic Mental Growth

905 Words2 Pages

The process of becoming an adult takes more time for children who enjoy freedom. When the kid is still young, one’s parents or guardians would not mind whatever the child does. But when one grows up, one’s hobby and attitude has to change according to one’s age. The Fall of a City is a short story written by Alden Nowlan to illustrate the forced maturation of the 11-year-old child under the influence of his relatives. It is a piece of writing full of pathos, where the protagonist ends up destroying the creation of his childish imagination because of his uncle and aunt’s judgment. Once they discovered what Teddy has been doing up in the attic, he decides to follow the course of his fate. He leaves his imaginary world, where he is the almighty king, to face the much more challenging real world. The Fall of a City is written by Alden Nowlan in order to express his vision of the transition from youth to manhood because of societal pressure, and the hardship is shown through the critique of Teddy’ uncle and aunt about their nephew’s character traits and the diverse conflicts which the protagonist faces within the story. In the first place, despite the creativity and imagination of Teddy, he is harshly criticized by his uncle and aunt who do not know what he is thinking in his mind. Therefore, they do not understand him thoroughly. Teddy’s dominant character trait is shown in his handiwork of the world he has created: “The streets and alleys were full of nobles, peasants and soldiers, their two dimensional bodies scissored from paper, their faces and clothing down in crayons and lead pencils”. (Nowlan 41) Indeed, Teddy is very creative. He is able to build a paper-made kingdom, in which are present people of various social cl... ... middle of paper ... ...ren who will soon become teenagers. In spite of Teddy’s creativity and imagination, his uncle and aunt blame him for being absent from the real world. Teddy has to mentally grow up in order to meet the expectation from his society. In addition, he is in conflict with his uncle who makes fun of his paper dolls. Finally, he is in conflict with himself since, at the end of the story, he cries after he has torn his imaginary city into shreds. In our society, childhood ends about the same way as described in The Fall of a City. In the beginning, the child would complain about the change of their home schedule, and gradually the kid starts to adapt to his new daily activities. It is necessary that parents put pressure on their child so the youngster gradually becomes mature in order to match social standards. Works Cited Nowlan, Alden. The Fall of a City. 41-47. Print.

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