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In Black Swan Green , I find that the dismantling of Jason's expectations and preconceived notions truly reflect a coming-of-age process within him. As a result of these changes, we see that Jason reevaluates his priorities and relationships. At the beginning of the story, we are told incessantly about Jason's obsession with the imagined pecking order that rules over the 13-year olds of Black Swan Green and we are well aware of this hierarchy's impact on him. With the social order, we are introduced to the only individual who seems to be friendly towards Jason: Dean. Within the social order, Dean is very much at the bottom to the point where even Jason calls him "Moron" instead of his real last name. However, this dynamic doesn't last as their friendship dynamic shifts through different situations which they experience together. Reflecting Jason's changing attitudes towards Dean, Jason's description of him is different at the beginning and the end of t

A glaring comparison between father and daughter is the openness of their sexuality, that is, Bruce's "closeted" sexuality and Alison's openness; thus, I believe that Fun Home juxtaposes Bruce and Alison as a symmetric pair in regard to the development of their sexual orientation.  Due to the dynamics surrounding his coming of age, Bruce may have intentionally suppressed Alison's development as a result of his own experiences. It is important to address the fact that both Bruce and Alison are very much victims to the social standards of their times. However, it is interesting to observe the differences between their sexual expressions as a result of these; for example, men are supposed to be viewed as strong whereas women were weaker and more submissive. Despite this, we see that Bruce takes a more passive approach whereas Alison is much more headstrong. One aspect that could have changed Bruce's sexual expression could have been his lack of a role model. A sc

Sylvia Plath's depictions of suicide and her descent into "madness" are extremely articulated in her story The Bell Jar . I think that one particular aspect of her descent into madness is the plain-ness of suburbia and the symbolization of some of Esther's depressive elements as a symptom of aggressive capitalist expansion with a disregard to the social progression of women. Suburbia has been demonstrated to contribute to the depression and social malaise of residents (1, 2) and I believe that the effect of suburbia on Esther is not much different. It is shown in the text that the mental struggles that Esther faces during her stay at home is significantly worse in comparison to that in New York; we note her odd meal behavior and insomnia, just to name a few. I think in recognizing the causes of these symptoms, there are three likely "candidates": 1) a continuation of the anxieties of her New York trip, 2) complications to her pre existing illness through the

The Catcher in the Rye is a book that has aged shockingly well over time with its relatability and message. However, there is one aspect that seems to be "hit or miss'' when it comes to his personal struggle to find meaning. Holden lives in an age when being a teenager often meant being part of the "normals" or else being cast out. While this trend has very much carried over into the 21st century, I believe that people who don't fit in the normal nowadays have the ability to find their own niche through the internet and other forms of media that may serve as a common factor amongst them. When we consider that Holden struggles to come up with something “material” that he is passionate about, we notice that he seems to only enjoy spending time with Allie and Phoebe. I don't mean to demean Holden's trauma from his brother's death, but I think that whatever hole he was in has been dug even deeper because of his absence of anything he could be consist

Milkman's name and upbringing reveals lots of information about Morrison's intentions and depiction of the main character in  The Song of Solomon.  We can begin with "Milkman" which stems from Macon Dead III's very long (in comparison to modern recommendations) weaning period. From this, we can draw our first parallel with Sigmund Freud's model of psychosexual development. Freud's model tells us that the oral period usually lasts from birth to age one. A consequence of fixation and a prolonging of this period often results in "orally passive" behavior such as smoking and/or a passive personality. These two similarities are extremely notable as they coincide in two separate scenes.  First, we find that by age 14, Milkman has "tried" to make himself different from his father: "Milkman feared his father, respected him, but knew, because of the leg, that he could never emulate him. So he differed from him as much as he dared. Macon was

Scattered throughout The Stranger are numerous symbolic representations of ideas, something appropriate considering the purpose of the story. I want to specifically highlight an allusion that stands out to me the most: the sun as “the Absurd”. If we establish that Meursault reacts hyperbolically to the heat of the sun (even though he presumably encounters it very often), it is very... absurd to see that he somehow reacts stronger to the sun than the death of his mother. A similar variation is seen with the death of the Arab: instead of actually portraying a fight between Meursault and the Arab, Camus describes the standoff as more of a fight between Meursault and the sun; instead of the Arab rattling the dagger, it is the sun that provokes and "cuts" Meursault with its rays. We also find further evidence that the sun imposes pain upon Meursault on page 57:  "[E]very time I felt a blast of its hot breath strike my face, I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists in my trouser