WC Markarian elaroadshow

They now say the human brain doesn't stop growing until approximately age 25 (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=141164708). In other words, "growing up" doesn't really stop until midway through our third decade.

While we may argue about the biological onset of adulthood, once puberty hits around age 12, it's also clear that humans are no longer children. So, between age 12 and 25, human beings enter that awkward transition period called adolescence, during which we form our unique identities while finding our purpose and direction.

This adolescent period is the subject of "Coming-of-Age" literature, more formally known as Bildungsroman. A common theme throughout fiction, Bildungsroman follows a protagonist on his or her adventures through the cloudy journey of "growing up." Dickens's Great Expectations, Alcott's Little Women, Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Golding's Lord of the Flies and Forster's A Room with a View, are just a few examples of classic literature featuring a Coming-of-Age theme.

Fantasy, with its love of young heroes, is a frequent player in the Bildungsroman game. Coming-of-Age is a central theme in many of the greatest works fantasy. For example, Frodo and his hobbit friends in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings are adolescents (for hobbits) who frequently make mistakes because they are young. Yet, at the same time, they are filled with the optimism and hopefulness needed to defeat Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor.

Tolkien's friend, C.S. Lewis, also created a Bildungsroman with his The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Interestingly, it can be argued that Lewis distributed the qualities of adolescence across the four Pevensie children. Edmund's selfishness and deceitfulness, common adolescent behaviors, almost destroy Narnia. But his behavior is overcome by the faith, hope and courage displayed by his brother and two sisters and eventually resurrected in Edmund, himself.

We can find similar themes in contemporary fantasy, too. In Collins's The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen idealistically steps in for her sister as tribute and struggles as much with understanding the murky truths of adult politics as she does with the physical trials of the Hunger Games. Similarly, over the course of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Harry navigates the problems of friendship and young love in between his battles with Voldemort and his minions. Harry also wrestles with the complexity of adult behavior as he tries to understand the complicated motivations of characters such as Dumbledore and Snape.

Coming-of-Age fantasy has several common traits at its core. Many such stories, for example, explore how adolescence is an introspective journey in which young adults create their identities by adopting or resisting the ideals held by their parents.  As such, Coming-of Age heroes are often physically separated from their parents. Whether orphaned like Harry Potter or ripped by the State from a parent's home like Katniss Everdeen, the young protagonist is often removed from his parents' direct influence to emphasize and symbolize the isolated nature of the journey he or she is about to take.

Other common themes of fantasy Bildungsroman are issues such as irresponsibility, selfishness, romance, idealism, feelings of inadequacy and/or superiority, moodiness, honesty, and lack of empathy. Some of these problems are caused by the emotional swings brought on by hormonal imbalances. Others can be attributed to the impulsivity of youth and a lack of experience. And some are best attributed to the newfound cognitive abilities of the developing brain.

I would argue that while adults also struggle with similar issues, these behaviors are likely more volatile and less intentional with adolescents.  Young people may be quicker to lie, shirk responsibility, or even fall in love. But their actions are more impulsive, like pulling a hand back from a hot surface as they test out the emotional landscape of adulthood. The immediate solution is more important than the long-range consequences. In contrast, experience helps most adults become better at mediating their reactions. In other words, when an adult lies, it is more likely an intentional, calculated response rather than the off-the-cuff reactions seen in adolescents.

This is one of the most endearing qualities of Bildungsroman. It allows an author to create wonderfully rich, complex protagonists (and antagonists, too!) who move from one mood to another and back again as he or she tries to figure out the fuzzy logic of adulthood. It allows characters to make mistakes and without condemning them to a lifetime of villainy. In short, because of their age, young adult protagonists are marvelously plastic and as such they are capable of amazing resilience.

As an author, I am interested in how a young protagonist grows throughout a novel, especially in one area.  I want my Coming-of-Age protagonists to struggle with and hopefully learn that human interactions are rarely simple dichotomies of good and evil or right and wrong. For example, Luke Skywalker sees good in Darth Vader at the climax of the Return of the Jedi. By the trilogy's conclusion, the simple idealistic personality Luke initially displayed in A New Hope has matured to where he understands people are mixture of good and bad, not just one or the other.  He tells his villainous father, "I feel the good in you, the conflict." I would argue that, more than anything else, Luke's new found awareness of nuance and complexity saves the universe of Star Wars from the Emperor's sinister intentions. After all, it is Darth Vader who ultimately destroys the Emperor, not Luke.

Thus, readers of my Coming-of-Age work shouldn't be surprised to find adolescent characters who are stumbling through their adventures as they struggle with the internal and external conflicts that confront them. Some of these characters will mature and develop, but not all of them. Those that develop and mature will learn to appreciate the complexity of human behavior and act thoughtfully rather than rely on snap judgments and impulsivity.

Be sure to buckle your seatbelt. Good Coming-of-Age stories are full of stops and starts, changes in direction, and the unexpected twists that make any story great.

More on Coming of Age:

Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life) | Ethan Gilsdorf | TEDxPiscataquaRiver

https://youtu.be/6PaHJqpQnyw

An Exploration of Coming of Age Rituals & Rites of Passage in a Modern Era | Ron Fritz | TEDxBend

https://youtu.be/Obta5WPfse4