The last few classes have caused me to think about my own coming of age. While I believe that one is constantly arriving at the "age" with every significant and life-changing experience, the pieces we have read so far have enforced the notion that something has to happen in one's life in order to "coming of age." In Mario Vargas Llosa's "On Sunday" expresses the vulnerability and overwhelming nervousness of a young boy in love. But in the same story, I found a conflict between friends but also within oneself. Miguel battles with himself in saving Reuben but the realization that no one is perfect, no one is invincible is the true tale of the age.
In the other stories, I realized that even though they are written from different cultures that our own traditional culture, that I relate. I took Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" as a mother telling her daughter exactly how to survive in their society. As if she was not given a choice for her way of life. The powerfulness behind the repetition of "this is how" almost forces the girl to grow up, to in a sense, come of age whether she wants to or not. The mother speaks to every situation: love, food, clothing, health, abortion, violence, sexuality. But the question I can't stop thinking of (if this were a non-fictitious story)is what if she doesn't follow these "guidelines" and makes her own "how-tos?"
All in all, regardless of what culture these stories were written for or written in coming of age represents the humanity of a person.
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