The Importance Of Childhood In Coming Of Age Story

During childhood, we learn some of the most important things in life; right and wrong, stranger danger, the abc’s, but, as a young kid, you don't know much about growing up - yet, that's all you want to do. In the following stories, children go through an important event that may change how they look at the process of growing older and realize how everything changes. As a child, you are assumed to be pure by most, with a clean slate, but as you mature, and become more independent, a lot of things change. In other words with maturity, comes the loss of innocence, and the gain of responsibility. In coming of age stories, the author utilizes dramatic details to highlight the protagonist’s innocence and how it changes and develops through

The story begins with one of his fictions he makes up in his mind; “...the can becoming a Nazi face in a window as he squeezed the trigger and the voices filled him: You got him, Captain. You got him.” (Dubus 1). In this passage, Kenneth is clearly eager to do things that come with being older than he is. Little does he know, adulthood is not as easy as his 13 year old mind makes it seem. Later in the story, Kenneth lets the fantasies in his head take control of his real life, when he's faced with a dangerous situation, “...he aimed through the screen, found the side of the man's head, then fired.” (13). Clearly, Kenneth didn't think his actions through well, and made a bad decision. This forces the reader to think about decisions they may have made, and how they could have been influenced by their innocence and lack of knowledge due to age. After Kenneth realizes the consequences of his actions, he takes a new perspective on the process of maturity, “...for a moment he was a mighty angel, throwing all guns and cruelty and sex and tears into the sea.” (15). Now, instead of being a war hero, or a princess’ knight savior in his mind, he wants to throw all the toxicity from the world away. The way Kenneth thought was obstructed by his innocence, which is forcibly removed by the actions he took in desperate hope to be

The author uses the protagonist’s lack of interest in a safe vacation to expose his purity and how it changes. Instead of going to the main beach where Jerry and his mom are staying, he decides he wants to go to the bay and explore it on his own. Once he gets there, he makes some observations; “...where rocks lay like discolored monsters under the surface…” (Lessing 2). The rocks represent what is lurking behind the protection of an innocent mind, posing a possible threat. Children are generally afraid of monsters because their young minds let them believe they are real, whereas the rocks pose an actual danger. Though Jerry makes the connection, he continues to explore, and soon a few local boys come and swim through a tunnel in the underwater wall. At first, the eleven year old is scared when the boys are underwater for a long while, but as their heads pop up on the other side of the wall, he becomes intrigued. The eleven year old is then devoted to doing it himself, “He would go if it killed him he said defiantly to himself.” (7). This decision he made was based off nothing other than him trying to act older than he is. He practices holding his breath for so long that his nose bleeds, and then attempts the tunnel itself. As he nears the end of the passage, he starts to struggle; “His head was swelling, his lungs cracking.” (9). This excerpt advertises the process of maturity and how