The Coming Of Age In Literature Essay — страница 2

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take with them. The Germans eventually take these items and anything found later would be ground for killing the beholder of the property. They took all this property so they could use it to buy supplies and so they could not use it to bribe people to let them go or to find out what was going to happen to them. The young man had to walk straight up to a burning pit and come as close to facing death as any person should, could, or would want to. The events he had to face were pretty much part of his coming of age. If he was not as old as he was or if he did not lie about his age he would have been burnt alive right on the spot in a big hole of fire. So coming of age pretty much saved this young man’s life. He also planned to end his life by jumping on to an electric fence rather

than being burnt to death. There it was now, right in front of us, the pit of flames. I gathered all that was left of my strength, so that I could break from the ranks and throw my self upon the barbed wire. In the depths of my heart, I bade farewell to my father, to the whole universe; and, in spite of my self, the words formed themselves and issued in a whisper from my lips: Yitgadal veyitkadach shme` raba (Wiesel, 1240) This was part of his coming of age because it would take a man to do such a thing. Deciding not to burn to death like the rest of the people and not giving the Nazis the satisfaction of seeing him burning to death was definitely an example of coming of age. Although he did not have to carry through with it, just knowing he was going to do it in his mind shows

maturity. All of these stories contained the coming of age of men and boys, which is very important in life and literature. It is used to show maturity, and how an upbringing can and may effect your future actions and decisions. So, this technique used in Sundiata , Nights , and Gilgamesh was used to show how they grow and mature over time and situations. Work Cited Page 1) Niane, D. T.. The Corner Store. World Literature. Ed. G. D. Picket. Orlando: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc, 1993. 105-115. 2) Sandars, N. K.. Epic of Gilgamesh. World Literature. Ed. David Leeming. Orlando: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1993. 139-151