The Transition from Childhood to Adulthood

1600 Words4 Pages

Everyone that have ever lived to adulthood, understand that difficulty of the transition to it from childhood. As of right now, I am in the prime of the “coming of age “transition. The overwhelming pressure of our society that forces the adolescence to assimilate the social norms is felt by many. Just as in our first steps, our first words or anything that is expected in our human milestones, coming of age is one of them. It may variety from different societies, religious responsibility or modern legal convention; everyone had to reach this point eventually. The progressive of everyone's coming of age is different. When we're able to read upon someone else’s transition it could help us reflect on our transition. Throughout Purple Hibiscus, we can see Kambili and Jaja story of coming of age. When one can analyze another story we can adopt it to our influences and personas. In the beginning of the story, Kambili is a fifteen year old girl who is painfully shy, her brother, Jaja, is a seventeen year old whom is beginning to rebel against his devout, abusive and perfectionist father. The first sentence of the story is the beginning of the coming of age. " Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion and papa flung his heaven missal across the room and broke the figurines in etagere"(PAGE 3) The commencement of the their coming of age story is followed by an eruption of violence in the opening paragraph. Some may say that Kambili’s coming of age journey started with her Aunt Ifeoma subtle influence but I believe that her transition began with the visit to her grandfather.(65) Throughout the story we haven’t seen her once thought of going against her father’s word. Both of the kids was o... ... middle of paper ... ...eruption of violence. Though we do not see any abuse in this first chapter, Kambili’s fear is palpable. Her concern for the well-being of her brother signifies not only the punishments they have received in the past, but also that Jaja’s behavior is new. This is a coming of age story for Jaja as well. Kambili is characterized by her lack of voice. She stutters and coughs and can barely rise above a whisper. Both she and Jaja are sheltered and intimidated by her father. Both children, as they mature into adults, must overcome their father. While Jaja’s rebellions are more overt – missing communion, asking for his room key, taking the blame for his mother’s crime – Kambili’s are more personal. She does not reject her faith and compassion, but rather adapts them to fit her new, more complex, worldview. Through all of their hardships, Jaja remains Kambili’s hero.

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