Coming of age stories with a historical setting, are stories about children or teenagers dealing with issues in their society that force them to mature. The child will form an opinion, either consciously or subconsciously, about an the issue This opinion will typically go against the social norm, The main character will become aware of the issues through a friend whose life is being negatively impacted by society. Also, the main character will have a caretaker figure that strongly influences them as they explore the problems in their world. When a coming of age story is set in history, the characters discover historical issues. As a result, they are forced to mature and form their own opinions about the world. Sometimes they form these opinions consciously. For example, in Elizabeth George Speare‘s (1958) Witch ofBlackbird Pond, 17-year-old Kit befriends an old woman in her small Connecticut town whom everyone thinks is a witch.
She chooses to get to know the woman, and makes her own opinion of her that goes against the norm of the town, Characters can also form these opinions subconsciously. This happens when the child is too young to understand the depth of the issues at hand. John Boyne’s (2006) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas tells the story of 8-year—old Bruno, living next to a concentration camp during World War 11. When Bruno meets a boy named Shmuel who wears ‘pajamas’ and lives on the other side of the fence, he becomes friends with him.
He makes his own opinion about the boy subconsciously because his innocence keeps him from understanding that this is a problem. Sometimes the main character already knows what is right and what is wrong but has yet to take a stand This happens when the child is on the negative side of prejudice. This is the case in Laurie Halse Anderson’s (2008) Chains, when a young slave named Isabel goes behind her masters back to expose them as traitors during the Revolutionary War. Isabel matures when she makes this decision, because she is taking her life into her own hands and is taking a stand against society. The main character has a caretaker figure that strongly influences how they View the world. Sometimes the influence is positive. For example, Atticus positively influences Scout by raising her to treat all people equally (Lee, 1960). Many times, the main character has a caretaker figure who has a negative influence on them. This forces the child to realize what they have been taught is morally wrong. A powerful example of this is Bruno’s father in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Boyne, 2006). His father is a Nazi General and has been forcing Nazi propaganda on him for years.
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However, Bruno never really understands this. He becomes the opposite of his father when he befriends Shmuel, a jewish boy living in a concentration camp. In addition to the caretaker figure, the main character has a friend who is being negatively impacted by prejudice in their society. The main character will do anything they can to treat their friend equally and help them out of trouble that they are facing. Scout has two ‘friends’ that she helps simply by looking past the prejudices that make them outcasts in society. Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, while are two very different characters, are also very similar in that they are shunned in their town for things they can’t control, Scout’s innocence, combined with the way she was raised, lets her show her friends that there is good in their society (Lee, 1960) Sometimes the main character falls into danger themselves as they try to help their friend.
For example, in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Boyne, 2006), Bruno befriends a jewish boy who lives in a concentration camp, not knowing the danger he is in. This friend unintentionally leads Bruno into danger as well, because their innocence kept them from seeing how truly dangerous the situation was, Sometimes, rather than the friend leading them into danger, the main character is already in danger themselves Such is the case when Isabel, a young slave, tries to help Curzon and his friends by giving them food and eventually plotting for Curzon to escape to freedom with her. Isabel wants to help Curzon, not just for him, but also for herself, (Halse Anderson, 2008) In most cases, all the main character can offer their friend is friendship, but sometimes the friend physically puts themselves in harm’s way to help their friend Annemarie Johansen first takes her Jewish friend Ellen into her home to hide and protect her. Later, she risks her life to make sure her friend can safely escape the country, when her home no longer provides enough protection (Lowry, 1989)
Coming of age stories with a historical setting are unique because they deal with issues that typically aren’t issues of the present day. Issues range from the Holocaust to witch trials to racism and slavery This lets young readers explore and learn about historical time periods while also enjoying the classic coming of age story, that so many readers can connect with. First Say: I made sure to read the whole thing out loud this time and I think I have made everything much more clear.
References
- The Holocaust – History.com
- Historical Fiction Book Reviews and Archives – NPR
- Who is Your Ideal Blog Audience? It’s not Everyone! – Medium
- The Role of Literature in Children’s Development: Ethics, Friendship, and Citizenship in Young Adult Novels and Nonfictional Works (Ages 12–16) – NCBI
- 6 Ways Students Can Research Authentic Sources – Scholastic
