Coming of Age in Before the Schumann Recording Plays and Through the Tunnel Literary Essay Example

Coming of Age is a theme represented in many different forms of literature. It means that a character, typically the protagonist, demonstrates growth and maturity. In the short stories “Before the Schumann Recording Plays” and “Through the Tunnel,” the main characters are followed throughout the plot as a way for the audience to gain insight of their thoughts and observe their development. In the short stories, “Through the Tunnel” and “Before the Schumann Recording Plays” , Nina and Jerry are faced with an obstacle that forces them to grow up and realize that they do not need to seek validation from anyone but themselves despite how difficult it may be.

At the beginning of the short story, “Before the Schumann Recording Plays”, the tone was set by Nina when she claimed that “My last competition was my last. I know that. My teacher Varya knows that” (Luo). With that sentence, she is foreshadowing what she feels is bound to happen and that her future was inescapable. A similar situation occurs in “Through the Tunnel” when Jerry stated that “to be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body” (Lessing). By saying that, Jerry is already setting the tone of desperation to be accepted by the older boys. As both stories progress, the audience notices development in these characters. When Nina loses the competition and goes through the thought process of why she lost, she comes to realize that she never truly loved music and it was never her passion. She used music as an excuse to miss out on the other components of life and to please her music teacher Varya. who even states in the end “Of course, Nina, it’s always your choice” (Lou). This demonstrates character development because Nina came to the terms that her life is in her hands and to focus on herself without worrying about others which is a factor of coming of age. Whereas in “Through the Tunnel” Jerry is trying so hard to prove to the older boys that he is just as capable as they are. This causes him to push himself past his physical capabilities and harm himself. This was all out of desperation to be accepted. When he finally completes his training and manages to go through the tunnel fully he is exhausted and realizes that self-gratification means way more than the validation of others. So much so that he does not even mention it to the older boys when he passes them and decides to rest instead. This demonstrates character development because he learned that pleasing himself means more than others correspondingly to Nina. 

Both protagonists in each short story went on different journeys which caused them each to grow and mature. Nina realizes that she should put her efforts into something that she enjoys or is passionate about instead of thinking about what others will think. Equivalently to Jerry who trained and pushed himself so hard during his vacation to the point where he bled just to receive acceptance from the older boys, but instead learned the lesson that self-gratification is much more rewarding than receiving credit. These characters both demonstrated coming of age because they exhibited growth and development from beginning to end and each learned important lessons along the way.