Theme of Growing and Struggling of Becoming an Adult in Literature (Free Essay Sample)

The most difficult aspect of growing up is letting go of what you're used to and moving on to something new. Growing up may be a wonderful experience. Growing up may be a frightening experience. It's something that a lot of individuals do on their own time. Others will have to do it quickly. Some people are fortunate enough to have a nurturing family and a good atmosphere in which to do so. Others, on the other hand, are not so fortunate. The argument is that everyone's situation is distinct and varied. There are a plethora of additional factors that influence how a child grows up, no matter how similar one situation appears to be to another. Two short stories which deal with the subject of maturity are “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” by Karen Russell and “Boys Go to Jupiter” by Danielle Evans. Both of these stories have growing up as their center, and both seek to send a message, both stories use growing up in contrasting ways. “Boys Go to Jupiter” demonstrates how growing up is challenging, or making mistakes along the way, while “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” is an example of how growing up can happen when a person strives for it. 

In St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Claudette has truly conformed into the human ways the nuns at St. Lucy’s have taught her. Within the first three epigraphs, Claudette faces many struggles of lycanthropic culture shock in her educational journey at St. Lucy’s. She eventually learned the rules that will make her more human. From there, she begins to transform. One of the accomplishments stated by Russel are on Pages 237-238 (Stage 3), “ Every Friday, the girls who had learned how to ride a bicycle celebrated by going on chaperoned trips into town.” The nuns emphasized to the girls that learning to ride a bicycle signified that they were becoming more human-like. The nuns also informed the girls that learning to ride a bicycle is something they'll never forget, and that being more human is the same way. In addition, Russel explains how Claudette has conformed is found on Page 246 (Stage 5), “My mother recoiled from me, as if I was a stranger. TRRR? She sniffed me for a long moment.” This is one another illustration of Claudette's true conformity. Wolves use their sense of smell to identify their prey. Claudette's own mother takes a step back, as if she's a stranger to her. If Claudette's mother doesn't recognize her, she has changed. Now, one major step in becoming more human is learning the language. Since the girls were raised by wolves, they only speak in wolfs, and can not understand English. Claudette towards the end of the story shows how she is able to speak the language clearer now. For example, “I didn’t want your help. Now you have ruined Sausalito! You have ruined the ball! I said more loudly, hoping the nuns would hear how much my enunciation had improved” (Russell). Here we can see that Claudette wants to show how hard she has been working. This is a big step for Claudette and is proving she can enter society and bridge the gap between wolves and humans.

In contrast, Claire from “Boys Go to Jupiter”,  goes from being clueless to willfully obtuse and ignorantly hurtful.  Throughout the story Claire was seen to be someone who constantly hurt people with her behavior. “A threat of what? That I was going to legally enslave her? Secede from the hallway, declare war on her, and then lose?” (Evans). Claire has the issue with acknowledging her bad actions, she has an issue with understanding that her actions cause overall harm to herself and others around her. Teenagers use alcohol to get drunk to have some fun and get loose. Claire already has a hard time dealing with emotions and how she treats others. To illustrate, “Tonight she is feeling drunk—pink and punchy and panty-dropping… Claire is still wearing panties, so far; she has that going for her, though she has held on to them only barely after an aborted tryst with a boy she met in the laundry room” (Evans).  Claire used alcohol and a sexual release to deal with the death of her mother. The reason for this is because she was never taught a way to cope with her emotions so she related to other things. Furthermore, it explains her actions with her not acknowledging when she is wrong or when she hurts others. 

Russel and Evans short stories are similar, however differences are shown since one character was able to mature, while the other became less like an adult. Claudette learned how to go from a wolf girl who was a part of the pack, to an independent human girl. The first piece of evidence is found during stage 5, “The sisters gave me a special pass to go visit the parents. The woodsman had to accompany me; I couldn’t remember how to find the way back on my own” (Russel). This shows that Claudette has conformed because a wolf’s natural instinct is to find their way home without any help, however, Claudette couldn’t. She had to have someone go with her to help her find her way back. Claire in “Boys Go to Jupiter”, at some point, needs to accept responsibility to stop making it worse. She wears a Confederate Flag bikini to the beach, but does not stop there. From there, “Claire prints a photo of the Confederate flag and scrawls in loopy cursive on the back Welcome back! I hope you had a great vacation. When she slips the photo under her door, she means to tell Carmen-the-hallmate to fuck off” (Evans 643-644). Here, she offends her African American roommate and begins to get very negative Email and social media comments. In addition, Claire legitimately cannot understand why the symbolism inherent in the Confederate flag slid uninvited into a Black woman’s living quarters might seem at all threatening. Claire’s actions are despicable,and Evans forces us to acknowledge that she’s mostly created this crisis herself.

At the end of the day, both of the character’s actions are a reflection of growing from their past self and continuing to make mistakes. Both want to change and seek refuge in the shadowy world of becoming an adult. One was able to accomplish this change and the other to this day makes life changing mistakes.The first is set free, while the second is imprisoned. Unfortunately, both of the characters will not be able to hit this milestone. These stories are able to create an image of the challenges that come along with adulting, therefore growing up results in positive outcomes for a person.