Paper Summary:

This paper compares and contrasts two American short stories, Hawthorne's "My Kinsman Major Molineux" and Anderson's "I Want to Know Why." The focus is on the theme of the transition from boy to man, a transition that in many cultures is clearly defined and marked by rites of passage, but which is not in our society. The boys in both stories struggle in a state of liminality and have difficulty overcoming their father-figure/mentor. The essay examines the symbolism of their journeys and recognizes that the "adolescence" that the boys are struggling through refers also to the development of the United States.

From the Paper:

"Growing up is never easy. But children in American and European cultures such as ours face the additional difficulty of living in a society that does not decide exactly when maturity has arrived. Children in such cultures endure an indeterminate period of "adolescence," a concept not found universally. And just as all situations and events surrounded by emotion and ambiguity, this transition from child to adult, and the period of liminality between, has become a great subject of literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" and Sherwood Anderson's "I Want to Know Why" both deal with the transition from boy to man, attempting to mark the initiation by some ritualistic or definitive event against the backdrop of culture's that do not institutionalize such transformations.
"The openings of both stories are marked with a boy's departure from his family--most significantly, his leaving the women's world, coming into that of the men. But this departure is always a hard one, stirring domestic emotion and provoking sentiment; hence Robin Molineux departs wearing stockings knit by his "mother or a sister," and the (unnamed) boy-narrator and his friends in "I Want to Know Why" buy souvenirs for their "sisters and mothers." But, no matter how emotionally charged at first, this separation from family is necessary. After he has arrived and passed an evening in the New England colony, Robin has a very significant vision of how the evening had been spent back home. With meticulous detail he pictures his family gathered in their custom of "domestic worship," but when they break from prayer and return to the house, the door is shut and latched, and Robin is "excluded from his home." He is on his own now, almost."

Visitors who viewed this Comparison Essay also liked these:

• Analytical Essay # 136256 : "Am I Blue?"
• Film Review # 54972 : "Jackie Chan's "Who Am I?"
• Article Review # 6080 : "Tell Me Dad: Am I Straight or Gay?"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: