coming of angst

For many queer individuals, coming out is the greatest accomplishment in self-actualization. It gives you a picture of who you were before;  insecure in your identity, possibly ashamed, hiding a part of yourself, and generally unsure of who you truly are, and picture of who you are after; living your truth, hopefully being accepted. This narrative of before vs. after, insecure vs. proud, confused vs. knowledgable, relates a lot to the coming-of-age narrative. Both have a rocky beginning, a period of trials and self-discovery, and a final stage of growth and self-acceptance. This is why Alison Bechdel's Fun Home  is so compelling; it presents a coming out and coming-of-age narrative in tandem, each making the other more powerful because of the complexities it adds. I would, however, like to point out that, unlike Alison's story, coming out and coming-of-age do not always occur simultaneously. Everyone's journey to self-discovery is different, and everyone has different timel

In Black Swan Green , Jason Taylor deals with three internal characters. He has Maggot, who is afraid of everything and protects Jason's self-interest, Unborn Twin, who encourages Jason to live life to the fullest, and Hangman, who personifies Jason's stutter. Maggot and Unborn Twin speak to Jason frequently, through the use of italicized text — usually used by authors to refer to thoughts or internal dialogue. Hangman, however, is more "othered" inside Jason's head. He doesn't really speak, but instead is just a constant, threatening presence. Jason's three voices represent David Mitchell's revision of the Freudian concepts of Id, Ego, and Superego. Id drives survival instincts, Superego represents superior moral judgement, and Ego balances the two. However, instead of having these three helpful psychological constructs, Jason has three that work against him. Maggot is so named because he's small, weak, and always scared. When Jason hears the nois

In Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar , suburbia represents failure. To Esther Greenwood, it's the ending of everything she's ever wanted, and essentially her greatest fear. It represents what she spends hours contemplating, the end of her life as she knows it, the thing which repulses her to an unimaginable degree: settling down and becoming a mother. In the beginning of the book, Esther is not at all interested in settling for anything. Even though her career is taxing and makes her unhappy, it's far better than getting married and starting to have babies with someone like Buddy Willard. Esther doesn't understand Doreen's obsession with relationships, and is completely horrified when Buddy takes her to his hospital and she witnesses a birth. The idea of motherhood is one she can neither fathom nor stomach, especially in the context of how drastically it would change her life. Esther is repulsed by the idea of ever being married. In the beginning of the book, she is d

A focus of our class discussions about the Catcher in the Rye has been Salinger’s unique style of including the reader in Holden Caulfield’s inner circle. I’ve read very few books that communicate with the reader so frequently, in a manner that makes the protagonist and reader distinct, like-minded people. Most books that make reference to “you,” the reader, are in second person narration; not portraying the protagonist and reader as acquaintances, but the same person, to make the story more emotionally fixating for the reader. Holden’s way of casually including the audience in his narration helps us to feel like his friends, like we are close to him in a way no other character in the book could be — except perhaps for Allie, Jane, and Phoebe. Given the way that Holden sees most people in the book as at least two-dimensional, if not entirely phony, his presumed intimacy with the reader makes us feel like we are special to him, and makes for a more engaging read. If the main character o