Adolescent Identity in Literature

Importance

All humans experience adolescence, so it provides a focus for much literature. All genres, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama may be used to focus on the changes between childhood and adulthood. In this stage, individuals develop a strong concern for self, seeking affirmation through peers. Psychological theories, such as those of Abraham Maslow, contend that adolescence is part of the normal progression in the search for the basic human needs of belongingness, love, and esteem. These needs must be met before one becomes a productive adult. Adolescent literature deals with the meeting (or not meeting) of such needs.

The German word Bildungsroman refers to a novel in which a youth breaks away from family to seek independence. The word is associated with the adolescent experience in literature. Another word used to refer to such literature is “coming-of-age novel.” The experience an adolescent undergoes in literature generally leads to an epiphany, or life-changing realization. Through such a change, the character becomes rounded. Realizations signal the maturity of the adolescent, who gains a new outlook on some aspect of life. This allows the character to develop a personal identity, causing a movement toward adulthood. In literature the search for identity grows out of the tradition of the quest, such as that embarked upon in Homer’s Odyssey (c. 800 b.c.e.) by Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. In traditional stories, males journey abroad and females travel about within the domestic sphere (from one residence or school to another), searching for identity. In modern stories, both genders move about freely in their environments. Usually these stories reflect aspects of the character’s social, economic, and social surroundings. Thus, while all main characters search for identities, their means of discovery may differ widely. All adolescent characters face some type of conflict, either within themselves, with another person, or with their environment. The meeting and overcoming of this conflict leads to the discovery of an aspect of identity.

History

Benjamin Franklin’s The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1791) is one of the earliest explorations of adolescent identity in American literature. Franklin tells the story of rejecting his father’s trade as a soap boiler, his apprenticeship to his brother as a printer, and his eventual disagreement with his brother leading him to search, as a youth, for a new life. Franklin’s running away from Boston to establish himself in Philadelphia symbolizes the many changes taking place in America at that time. Franklin matures along with his country. He attempts to pass along the wisdom he has gained to help his readers in finding their own identities. This is a major purpose of many autobiographies discussing the adolescent experience. Another well-known American autobiography is that of Frederick Douglass. His Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881, 1882) saw five different revisions and publications. Douglass relates his slavery experience from childhood through adulthood.

Following autobiography came novels, including those written in the nineteenth century by Horatio Alger. Alger wrote tales of young men who made their fortunes through hard work. His books have been labeled inspirational adventures or "rags-to-riches" tales; they taught his readers that hard work pays. Louisa May Alcott wrote some of the first American coming-of-age fiction for girls. Her best-known novel, Little Women (1868–69), tells of four sisters who mature during the Civil War. Her books are termed autobiographical because, while not completely factual accounts of her life, they contain much detail from the Alcott household. She wrote several other works, including Eight Cousins (1874), in which an orphan girl is raised in what would later be called a nontraditional family. Her uncle encourages her to try experiences not usually recommended for girls. Reflecting the culture of the mid-nineteenth century, the book focuses upon the restrictive clothing, lack of education, and poor diets forced upon American females. Laura Ingalls Wilder also wrote fiction based upon the experiences of her family on the prairie. Her series of “Little House” books shows the maturation of Laura and her sisters through their experiences in the western part of the United States. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) are known as classics among works of adolescent literature. The rebellious Tom, an orphan, and Huck, the runaway child of an abusive alcoholic father, each search for their place among their small-town neighbors and their friends. Twain’s books also deal with larger issues of racism, bigotry, and cruelty. When Huck takes a trip up the Mississippi River with an escaped slave, Jim, he must choose between obeying the laws of humans, which proclaim that some are not free, and the laws of nature, under which all are born free. Thus, Huck’s conflict is with his culture, or environment. When he chooses to support Jim’s freedom, he develops a new outlook on life’s priorities. Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage (1895), about the Civil War, examines the psychological effects of battle upon a young combatant. Its protagonist is a teenage boy who discovers the meaning of courage when he reluctantly becomes part of the Union Army. His struggle against his own fears and the “red beast” of war serves as a prototype of the adolescent conflict novel.

The Twentieth Century

Some classic novels dealing with adolescence include Marjorie Rawlings’s The Yearling (1938), in which a boy must sacrifice his pet deer to save his family’s crops; J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951), focusing upon a young boy’s sexual and emotional maturation; William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954), which tells of the behavior of a group of boys stranded on an island together; and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), a story of young people’s experience with racial prejudice in the Depression-era South.

The twentieth-century African American poet and novelist Langston Hughes began writing seriously when he was in high school. Much of his poetry emits a spirit of pride in his race and protest against discrimination. His “Mother to Son” features one generation seeking to inspire another. Joyce Carol Oates captured adolescence in “Insight,” a poem about love and recklessness, while John Updike examines life after high school basketball in “Ex-Basketball Player.” Themes of multiculturalism surface in “Indian Children Speak,” a poem by Pima Indian poet Juanita Bell. As multiculturalism came to the fore, literature focusing upon the experiences of adolescent minorities appeared in greater quantity.

A change of public attitude in the twentieth century allowed the acceptance of subjects for adolescents which were previously considered taboo. Previous to about 1960, authors could not publish writing for young people that dealt with such realistic subjects as divorce, alcoholism, physical abuse, teen pregnancy, mental illness, or drug abuse among teenage characters. Today, these subjects often provide focus for popular novels, even for younger teens.

Classification

Adolescent fiction may be classified by genre. Social realism features teens who feel out of step with society. They discover through experience ways by which they may come to terms with conflict. Such books may lack a happy ending, and they may contain profanity and scenes that may shock readers. In Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War (1974), when a youth at an all-boys’ school goes against a school tradition, his actions result in his being attacked by other boys and by an abusive instructor. The tone of this novel remains pessimistic, as the main character finds no solution for his problem. Paula Danziger’s books, such as The Cat Ate My Gymsuit (1974) and There’s a Bat in Bunk Five (1980), use humor and an optimistic tone to follow the experiences of an overweight teen who finds her niche as a camper and later as a camp counselor. Adolescent characters may also find themselves caught up in problems of worldwide import. In Summer of My German Soldier (1973), Bette Greene writes of a mistreated Jewish girl who befriends an escaped prisoner in Arkansas in the 1940s, discovering her own identity by helping a person who should, according to society, be her enemy. Prolific writers of popular social realism novels depicting adolescents include Richard Peck, Cynthia Voigt, and Lynn Hall. Hall’s book, The Solitary (1986), tells of a teenager who must cope with the fact that her mother killed her abusive father. Judy Blume, a popular writer, has produced books dealing with sexual maturing, religion, and death. Her books have, from time to time, been banned from some schools and libraries. The ethnic backgrounds of characters and authors may vary widely. In Mari Sandoz’s novel The Story Catcher (1963), a young Sioux brave named Lance hopes to show his people that he is worthy of their confidence, and an interracial friendship causes problems for the characters in Virginia Hamilton’s A White Romance (1987). One black writer popular for his themes of the value of understanding to all ethnic groups is Walter Dean Myers.

Sports stories have been made popular by authors such as Chris Crutcher, who wrote Running Loose (1983). In this novel, a high school senior football player obeys his coach and injures a rival black quarterback, then finds he can no longer play. Mysteries first gained popularity with series featuring teens such as Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Later the aspects of suspense and horror were added to mysteries by writers such as Lois Duncan. Duncan’s teen characters confront drugs, sex, divorce, and crime as they juggle peer relationships and identity crises. Romances are also of interest for teens. Eileen Gouge and Suzanne Rand are among many authors who have written entire series based upon the challenges of young love. Fantasy stories ask readers to believe other worlds might exist. Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea books, Wizard of Earthsea (1968), The Tombs of Atuan (1971), The Farthest Shore (1972), and Tehanu (1990), connect to form a continuous coming-of-age story. Closely related to fantasy are those books called science fiction. Poul Anderson and Karen Anderson have together written dozens of science fiction books that stress scientific laws and technological inventions and depict adolescents facing the same struggles as those in more traditional literature. Historical fiction is based on fact. These works incorporate factual people, places, and times into fictional plots. In Ann Rinaldi’s The Last Silk Dress (1988), a fourteen-year-old Confederate girl in the midst of the Civil War confusion discovers she is the illegitimate daughter of a Yankee. The novel deals with her attempt to overcome the resulting internal conflict.

All these genres have in common the facing of conflicts by teens placed in difficult situations. As is true with adult-themed books, works about adolescent experience must endure for years before being singled out as fine representatives of their respective genres.

Bibliography

Alsup, Janet, editor. Young Adult Literature and Adolescent Identity across Cultures and Classrooms. Routledge, 2010.

Bold, Melanie Ramdarshan, and Leah Phillips. "Adolescent Identities: The Untapped Power of YA." Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, vol. 1, no. 2, Mar. 2019, sophia.stkate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=rdyl. Accessed 22 Aug. 2019.

Kardux, Joke. “The Politics of Genre, Gender, and Canon-Formation: The Early American Bildungsroman and Its Subversions.” In Rewriting the Dream: Reflections on the Changing American Literary Canon, edited by W. M. Verhoeven. Atlanta: Rodopi, 1992.

Lukens, Rebecca J., et al. A Critical Handbook of Children’s Literature. 9th ed. Pearson, 2013.

Millard, Kenneth. Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction. Edinburgh UP, 2007.