Coming of Age Stories: Explorations of Components

Coming of Age Stories: Explorations of Components of the Narrative

In literature, one of the most frequently dealt with theme is the story of one character's developing over time and reacting to the various experiences that he or she faces through the course of the narrative. This type of tale, called a coming of age story, follows the characters from the point at the beginning of the story all the way up to the end of the tale when all of the events end. Throughout each part of the story, the character will have to go through changes in some way because of the experiences that are had through the plot and through the depictions of the other characters. What is paramount in the telling of a coming of age story is that as a character ages and develops chronologically, that character must develop in an equal percentage emotionally and as a human being. Many stories feature these kinds of narrative and among perhaps the most powerful versions of the coming of age story are Joan Didion's "Goodbye to All That," Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" and "On the Rainy River," and Malcolm X's "Saved."

There are certain components that comprise a traditional coming of age story. A coming of age story, also known as a bildungsroman, requires a protagonist who is in some way naive at the beginning of the story. Usually the main character will be a child, teenager, or young adult, someone's whose physical characterization will mirror their innocence of mind which will change as the story progresses (Iverson 33). There are many variations on this theme and there are no specific rules which dictate how a character must change. The only thing that is necessary in a coming of age story is that in some way, the character changes and is far off physically and psychologically from the place they were at the beginning of the story.

In Joan Didion's "Goodbye to All That," she writes about her experience as a young woman who leaves Sacramento and heads to the Big Apple in order to become a world famous writer. There is a naive belief by those living in less urban areas that they can leave their smaller town behind them, move to a large city like New York or Los Angeles, and that they will be successful. Some go with the false belief that achieving success in the big city will be easy. All one need to do is get off of the bus or train or airplane and success will be quickly achieved. Even those who are less naive about the competition of others in such cities will still have the naive belief that they will be successful, no matter how many millions of others have gone to the metropolises and failed. Over the course of the story, which encompasses approximately a decade in the author's life, she becomes more accustomed to the truth of the situation in which she has put herself. She arrives in the city with the hope and naivety of same-minded youths and leaves the city with a somewhat positive perspective. However, in leaving, she also has a feeling that she has lost something through her experiences in the city (Didion 227). Now, she knows the truth about the opportunities and that not everything is as easy as we believe in our youth. Things require hard work, struggle, and sacrifice and even when those occur, success is not guaranteed to anyone.

In the first Tim O'Brien story, "The Things They Carried," the author explores a band of young soldiers and describes each of the items that the young men carry with them into battle. The first character that is introduced is First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Each young man has to carry certain things with him as they march from place to place and do battle with the enemy. In the quiet moments of solitude, Jimmy imagines a young girl named Martha and wonders whether or not she is a virgin. All of these young men are facing the real possibility of death and the items that they have to carry with them both embody their individualism and also their current role, as each youth is responsible for carrying with him the tools he needs for survival. By continually questioning Martha's virginity Jimmy Cross makes an interesting division between innocence and a lack thereof (O'Brien 2). Whether or not someone is a virgin is the epitome of whether they have crossed the line between childhood and the adult world. When that line has been crossed and a person engages in sexual acts, they no longer belong to the world of innocent childhood. By engaging in warfare, the young men each cross the line between childhood and the adult world in a way that is different from sex. Going to war means that there is the likelihood that the soldier will have to become a killer. As time goes on, the memories that Jimmy has of Martha and his time with her fade and the thoughts of her are replaced by the very real images of the current time. He changes from a man in love with a girl who wants nothing but to be loved in return, into a man who cares not if he's loved by the men around him so long as they listen to him and follow his orders. The external events that happen to the narrator create a change in personality wherein he ends his youthful ambitions of love and instead becomes consumed with the more adult concern about staying alive.

The second Tim O'Brien story is "On the Rainy River." It tells of a young man who as a child wished to be a hero, to behave heroically and to do something truly good. At age 21, the young man has been drafted and is meant to fight in the Vietnam War. He does not want to do this because he believes the war is immoral. Before receiving the draft notice, the narrator had protested the war on principal. Now that the time has come to fight it himself, he feels anger. Only after allowing the truth of situation to settle in does the narrator admits that the real reason he is angry is that he feels fear (O'Brien 43). The narrator changes during the course of the story through a friendship he develops with an old man. In the beginning of the story, O'Brien's narrator is consumed with selfishness. All he cares about is his own self and his own life. He does not protest the war because of political reasons it seems but because of his own hidden fear that somehow he would have to fight it and in so doing, he would die. This type of coming of age is different than the others in that it is a solely internal change that is caused by the realization of a truth rather than a changed perception.

In the chapter "Saved" from Malcolm X's autobiography, the author discusses the time he spent in prison. During his incarceration, Malcolm X decides to further educate himself and train himself in skills like vocabulary and erudition. Before entering prison, the man who would become Malcolm X was on a path which included crime, thus earning him a stint in prison. Through this negative experience, he teaches himself and in so doing, forces a change in himself. He becomes more religious and focused on other people outside of himself, turning a negative experience into a positive influence on his later life.