What is adolescence? The dictionary states that adolescence is the time of life between puberty and maturity. During adolescence a young person goes through a serious of dramatic changes. Adolescents grow and adjust to a new physical, emotional, and social outlook on life. They begin to analyze the world around them and start to question his/her outlook on life. In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the picture of adolescence is portrayed through the characters in each work. His/her social situation, environment, and time period affect each character’s adolescence.
In Romeo and Juliet, the portrayal of adolescence is one of the main themes of this work. This novel takes place in Verona during the Middle Ages. This work is about two families, the Montague’s and the Capulet’s, who have been feuding for a very long time. There are two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who will do anything to be together even if it means death. Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. They are forbidden to interact with each other. Even though they are told not to talk to each other they go against their parents’ wishes and talk with each other. In a passage from Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence talks to Romeo and says:
“Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! Is Rosaline, that thou didst
love so dear, so soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies not truly in
The Term Paper on Romeo and Juliet and Capulet
Soon several member of both houses jump into the fight as well as citizens of Verona. Capulet calls for his sword. Then Montague tells his wife to let him go so he can attack Capulet. The fight is then broken up by the Prince stating that if the Capulets and Montagues get into a fight again, those responsible will be put to death. Everyone departs the scene save for Montague, Lady Montague, and ...
their hearts, but in their eyes.” (Shakespeare 89)
Friar Lawrence says that Romeo is fickle and that he loves not by his heart, but by his eyes. This work portrays the adolescent as being rebellious and how the adolescent is very fickle. Romeo and Juliet get married and problems start to occur. They end up killing themselves because of adolescent love. If Romeo and Juliet were to sit down and think of the consequences that were ahead, they would not have acted so boldly. Romeo and Juliet felt that they were capable of accomplishing anything they set their minds to, but that was incorrect. If they were acted more rational then they would not have died.
They lacked the maturity and the ability to handle the situation.
The portrayal of adolescence in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is one of the main themes in this work. This novel takes place on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers between Missouri and Illinois, shortly after the Civil War. The author, Mark Twain, portrays adolescence through the main character, Huck Finn. Huck goes through many changes throughout the novel. In the beginning of the book, the main character is viewed as a little boy who is incapable of making his own decisions. He would play childish, immature games with his friend, Tom Sawyer. As time progresses, Huck Finn goes through drastic changes. When Huck runs away from his father and lives on the island, Huck is viewed as being independent and mature. He runs into Jim, a runaway slave, and when they talk, Huck says:
“Well, I did. I said I wouldn’t, and I’ll stick to it. Honest injun, I will. People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum – but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t a-going to tell, and I ain’t a-going back there anyways. So, now le’s know all about it.” (Twain 43)
This showed that Huck was maturing and treating another person not as a lesser being, but as an equal. By the end of the book, Huck comes to accept people’s differences. Jim and Huck seem to bond more and more. This bonding shows the behavior in which Huck is accepting people by who they are rather than by a person’s skin color. Huck shows a little boy who starts to grow. He starts to make the transition into adulthood. He started out acting very immature, but as time went on, he slowly matured and became a self-thinker.
The Homework on Board Of Education Has Proposed To Start High School Earlier
The proposal submitted by the local Board of Education to start high school earlier is absurd. Although the idea of accommodating an expanding schedule may sound convincing, there are many factors that should be taken into consideration before making a final decision.I believe that starting school earlier could have negative effects on high school students due to sleep deprivation of the teenagers ...
The portrayal of adolescence is one of the main themes in The Catcher in the Rye. The novel is set in the New York City area during the 1950’s. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is used to depict the youth of his time. Holden is the son of a wealthy New Yorker family who moves from school to school. He usually gets expelled from school or he just leaves. Holden is portrayed as a character with no formal goals in life. He is pursuing an aimless and self-destructive path. He has a low self-esteem and takes a complete disregard for others. He is unable to grasp the consequences of his actions and does not take fault in his failings. Holden is self-destructive and very cynical. He is skeptical of all authority and has unhealthy views on sexuality. This is the life of a typical adolescent, where his/her parents are nowhere in sight. Holden’s parents neglect their duties as a parent and dump him into boarding school after boarding school. In a passage from The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is portrayed as a child fighting off the path to maturity.
“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them…I know it’s crazy.” (Salinger 173)
Holden wishes to be an innocent child forever because he does not look forward to being a crazed, insensitive adult like his parents. Even though Holden grows physically, he wants to stay a child forever. If he had been subjected to a better family lifestyle, he would not be pursuing a directionless life, but a life with goals and purposes.
Every child has to go through the stage of adolescence. A person cannot jump from an infant to an adult in one day. It is a slow and hard transition. The stage of adolescence is a developmental period where a person must grow and mature. One should not try and hide from adolescence, but rather face adolescence head on. During this stage, there may be many hardships and tribulations, but there are also the good times. It is a journey into adulthood.
The Essay on Parents in child’s life
Parents are an integral part of any child’s life. They are his safe haven, his stepping stones and his personal cheerleaders. They are the people who create a person in the first place hence he/she owes their existence to them (Laura, 11). They give a child his name, his characteristics and his personality. They also give him both his negative and positive traits. So, in my opinion it is a ...
