To Kill A Mockingbird: Book Analysis

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Bildungsromans, coming of age literature, originated in Germany during the 18th century (Petra Rau, Bildungsroman, litencyc.com). It was originally meant to chart a protagonist 's journey from youth to maturity. The journey that the protagonist takes is not easy and is filled with many obstacles and failures. Towards the end of the story, the protagonist reaches an epiphany and finds his or her place in society. This supports coming of age as it is the process of growing up, entering adulthood, and becoming intellectually independent. There are certain novels that have been written where the protagonist is a young girl. The girls presented in these novels represent the theory of coming of age and surpass the “stereotypical” girl concept. A stereotypical girl is one who follows society’s rules and becomes a basic asset, unnoticed, in …show more content…

Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama (Harper Lee Biography, biography.com). She is the youngest of four children and just like her protagonist, she was a tomboy. Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird to discuss coming of age and “the racial prejudices in the South.” Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief, wrote this novel as a recreation of his mother’s life. Zusak is an “innovative and poetic novelist” as well as one of the most famous Australian authors due to his success with The Book Thief (About Markus Zusak, randomhouse.com). Heidi W. Durrow’s most successful novel is The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. Durrow wrote this novel after hearing about a true account of a family that religiously jumped off of their apartment building in Salt Lake City, Utah. Durrow said that she wanted to give the sole survivor, Rachel, a voice as well as incorporating her childhood accounts into the novel. The authors of these coming of age novels are all renowned authors and have each written to provide literature with strong, young, female

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