In the novel Looking for Alaska, the author, John Green, highlights the theme of ‘coming of age’ through the character Miles Halter, also known as Pudge. The author also demonstrates to the readers what it means to be present in life and how that applies to coming of age. Green demonstrates Miles Halter’s journey as he crosses the threshold between his old world and what is now becoming his new world in boarding school. As Miles adjusts to his new school, Culver Creek, he is overwhelmed by the people and his new environment. Miles’s teacher, Dr.Hyde, explains to him what it really means to be ‘present’ in life. Miles Halter displays his immaturity as he is searching for a new beginning which he calls ‘the great perhaps’. Miles faces the …show more content…
Miles Halter demonstrates to the reader in the beginning of the novel his obliviousness and how he sees the world through the eyes of a child. As miles is attempting to develop his personality and also embarrasses himself and displays the meaning of being immature. Miles shows distinctive characteristics of immaturity, childishness, and doesn't really know how to proceed with himself. When Miles move to Culver creek the first thing on his mind was to impress or to show out, and also make a good first impression. As miles is trying to adjust to his new school. To follow his ‘great perhaps’. Pudge’s experience is very overwhelming and he is also very clumsy for example he walked out the shower naked when he first met his roommate. “Great.[...] I’m meeting my roommate naked” (Green 9). As shown, Pudge struggles to fit in and as demonstrated it shows his efforts to fit in. Not only does Pudge give off the wrong he impress it shows that ultimately maturity comes with embarrassing mistakes. Mile’s embarrassment overwhelms him and is the reason being why he tries hard to fit in and make choices that could subsequently be the reason why he smokes and …show more content…
Once Miles has realized and forgiven himself he has ultimately matured and faced the fact that what happened was real and final finds the true meaning ‘being present’. Green shows Pudge’s determination not give up on himself and to stick with what he ultimately wanted, ‘the great perhaps’. As Miles's truly acknowledged the truth he has set a pathway for him in a science that he wasn't going to stop and he was going to keep persevering and this subsequently helps him mature more into an adult. By taking the advice of his professor Hyde he truly understands what he meant when he said you need to be present” (Green). Green shows the true meaning of being present as Miles embodies that very meaning and has ultimately upheld the meaning of being mature and being an adult. To be an adult Miles needed to understand and exactly compared how in life anything can be given as quickly as it can be taken away. Only through forgiveness Miles could overcome her death and only through forgiveness could he truly become self-aware. Had this not happen, Miles would be lost, had this not have occurred he would be able to mature and ultimately fail the test of maturity and could’ve ended up like his friend
Each and every person will go through a coming of age experience sometime in their life. Those experiences can come in different forms. But, each coming of age experience ends up shaping us to become a mature adult. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells a coming of age story through Scout Finch, an aging girl’s point of view. Her brother, Jem Finch who experiences coming of age before Scout, realizes that being an adult was not what he hoped. Jem recognizes a different perspective of bravery from Mrs.Dubose, a vile, elderly woman’s perspective. In chapter 11, Harper Lee uses literary elements such as character, conflict, and setting to establish Jem’s new outlook on life.
Miles Pruitt is the center of this story; he is going through life in attempt to avoid the hardships it throws at him. He has to cope with the misfortunes that come with love, and by the end of the story, Miles will finally come to realize that his decisions to go through life untouched will not pay off.
...eives nothing from the children. It should be obvious to the reader at this point that the children are obviously in no way doing any wrong and are telling the truth to the best of their knowledge. The continual obsession of the governess over maintaining the protection and innocence of the children gets so severe that it causes Flora to come down with a serious fever and Miles grows seemingly weaker and sicker without his sister there with her.
The quote by Zora Neale Hurston, “There are years that ask questions and years that answer,” shows that coming of age is a tricky project that takes time and effort. In Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird, she writes about Scout Finch, the narrator, reflecting on her past and the challenges she went through in her hometown, Maycomb, with her brother Jem and childhood friend Dill.. Harper Lee uses the young characters in the novel to show experiences, their role models, and conflict help shape a person from child to adult.
The characters in Empire Falls go through many changes throughout the novel. By the end of the novel Miles is changed drastically. He begins the novel as a slow moving, trusting, somewhat depressed individual. By the end of the novel, Miles has achieved an epiphany. No longer letting the world step on his dreams, Miles goes after with a roar the dreams and desires that have lain dormant for twenty years. His ex-wife, Janine, also comes to realize that the dreams she thought she had are not necessarily what she wants after all. Janine comes to accept herself for Janine, instead of flailing around wildly trying to find herself in outward appearances. Tick has learned a lesson that we all come to at some point in our lives, that people are not always good and there is danger in the world.
Miles did a good job in playing the part of Seymour. Seymour is a tense person who never truly grew up. The way Miles walked as Seymour was with closed legs and quick steps. The energy of the walk pushed up from the middle of the back and carried him along. The rhythm and movement of Seymour was sharp and jilted. The full body movement including hands and torso seemed incomplete and almost ashamed. Seymour's facial expressions were somewhat twisted and looked constrained. The eyes were wide open the ...
Coming-of-age stories commonly record the transitions—sometimes abrupt, or even violent—from youth to maturity, from innocence to experience of its protagonist, whether male or female. Greasy Lake by T.Coraghessan Boyle and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates are great examples of traditional coming-of-age stories. The roots of the coming-of-age narrative theme are tracked in the male protagonist’s perspective for Boyle’s short story, while the Oates’ story captures the coming-of-age theme from Connie; a female protagonist’s perspective. In both short stories, the authors fulfill the expectations of a coming-of-age genre when they take us through the journey of rebellion and self realization, as the
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main character and narrator, Scout Finch, embarks on her own adventure throughout her childhood years to learn more about the world around her as well as herself. As the novel progresses, she continues her process of coming of age as she faces troubles, explore new areas, and interacts with her community. On her journey Scout grows and matures, realizing who she is and how she feels about her place in the world. Harper Lee masterfully represents the challenges in the coming of age process through Scout. Thus, through transformative conflicts, symbolic setting, and a critical first person narration, Lee reveals how as one grows up, one must face the injustices and normalities
In her short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, Joyce Carol Oates presents us with a well known maxim: children cannot wait to get older. Tired of her boring and powerless childhood, Connie, the main character, searches for cheap thrills she likens to adulthood. Thus, Connie’s surreal experience (Arnold Friend’s sudden and unwanted appearance in his car) represents a suppressed fear of the inevitable and unknown - growing up.
The death of Miles (presuming he is dead and not just unconscious) has a number of possible interpretations, too - he could have died from his fall, from Quint's extended hand or from some other cause. However, it omits the most important possibility as shown in the book, as a consequence of the removal of the strangulation subtleties; that of whether the governess herself killed him. Without this, the book's stunningly powerful ending, whereby the reader is left reeling from shock and subsequently disbelief (as the other possibilities come to the surface, such as the line "and his little heart, dispossessed, had stopped• is referring to an emotional heart rather than a physical one, and that the child is, in fact, still alive) is disappointingly absent. Whilst the žlm's ending is effective, it lacks the sheer power of the book's žnale. As with many book-to-žlm adaptions, a desire to change the ending is the žlm's
Death- the one thing in life that no one can avoid. One of the main characters, Alaska Young, learns this firsthand. Alaska is Miles’ love interest at Culver Creek Boarding School. She is smart and she loves quoting poetry, but she can also be moody and unpredictable. Alaska decides that the biggest question in life is how to “escape the labyrinth of suffering.” In actuality, Alaska hides her true inner conflict, the death of a loved one which fills her past. John Green exemplifies the theme of death through the characterization of Alaska Young.
“Growing up” is a very broad term that is used without a true, consistent definition. In essence, it describes and encompasses themes of coming of age and the loss of innocence as a person moves from child to adult. In many respects, people view this change as a specific, pivotal moment in a person’s life, such as an eighteenth birthday, or the day a person leaves their parents’ house. This idea of having a crucial moment in life, which provides the open door into adulthood, is portrayed in many novels. It is easy to find a death that occurs, or a specific event that causes a character to “grow up” prematurely, but many times, contrary to most beliefs, that exact event is not the turn of the key leading through the doors to maturity. It is rather just a small push which starts a domino effect. This is the same scenario in the novel All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. This novel proves that loss of innocence is a learning process rather than the result of a
In her famous short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates shows the transition from childhood to adulthood through her character Connie. Each person experiences this transition in their own way and time. For some it is leaving home for the first time to go to college, for others it might be having to step up to a leadership position. No matter what, this transition affects everyone; it just happens to everyone differently. Oates describes Connie's unfortunate coming of age in a much more violent and unexpected way than the typical coming of age story for a fifteen year old girl.
Looking for Alaska is a book ,written by John Green. The main theme of the book is “Looking for the Great Perhaps.” In the first three chapters of the book, the main characters, Miles “Pudge” Halter, Chip “Colonel” Martin, and Alaska Young are introduced. Looking for Alaska is a story about a guy named Miles Halter who recently switched to a boarding in school in Alabama in order to find out who he really is as a person. At the boarding school, Miles becomes very close friends with his roommate, The Colonel, and a girl named Alaska Young. The Colonel is a very confident guy who’s pretty poor in money, but he’s rich in love and appreciation for people. Alaska is a very beautiful, yet strange girl who is fascinated with death and isn't afraid
The next unclear situation is when the Governess learns of Miles’ expulsion. This is one of the main mysteries within this story. The question, “What does it mean? The child’s dismissed his school,” is the only question that the reader has throughout the conversation between the Governess and Mrs. Grose (165). Even though their conversation does inform the reader that the school has “absolutely decline[d]” Miles, it doesn’t clarify what exactly he has done to be expelled (165). The Governess comments, “That he’s an injury to the others” and “to corrupt” are her own opinions as to why Miles was expelled (165, 166). Nevertheless, her comment does not help the reader in any way because the remark in and of itself is unclear. Her first comment suggests that Miles might be causing physical harm to other students but her second ...