Home in Coming of Age Novels
In looking over a list of coming of age novels, one can easily note the variety of settings in which the characters do battle. While some offer the big adventure and others offer an institutional setting, a sizable number stay home. These novels seem to tell us, home is not only where the heart is, it is also where the problems are.
Parents, of course, are not always the villains in coming of age novels. In Meet Me on the Paisley Roof, the beloved parents are dead, replaced by a not so beloved stepmother Loretta. Sixteen-year-old Trussell sees himself as "imprisoned" by her strict rules and is fearful of her increasingly erratic behavior, especially since her purchase of a .38 revolver. While Loretta wants to raise Trussell properly, she has no idea how to do so, eventually fearing that Trussell is out to kill her. So, what does she do with the loaded revolver? It's for you to find out!
Meanwhile, Trussell and his friends stir up trouble by tossing a load of turkey manure at each other, besmirching everything within sight of, and including, the house. Guess how Loretta reacts!
Conflict in coming of age novels can be resolved violently or non-violently. Loretta reaches out in a seance for help from her deceased husband, something that other coming of age novels rarely try. You'd be surprised at the results!
Coming of age novels test many different assumptions about the home. Home is not always a refuge from life's storms!
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