Montana 1948 Essay
Maturity may come at any age and time in a person's life. One moment he or she may be a carefree child, and then suddenly realize that they have been transformed into a mature adult by a powerful and traumatic experience. An experience they will remember their whole lives. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the adolescence of Jem and Scout is threatened one fateful night by a dangerous man bent on taking their lives. After this startling experience, they were never the same again. As a result, they rapidly matured into adults. Similarly, young David Hayden, the narrator of Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, also encounters an equally traumatic event. He discovers that his uncle has been sexually assaulting Native American women in his town. This is a heavy burden for a twelve year old boy, especially since it reveals that his beloved Uncle Frank is the "bad-guy". However, one discovers, as the novel develops, that David matures and grows in order to deal with this situation. He must come to understand what has happened and how the immoral actions of Frank will affect his family and its name. But most importantly, he must know that his integrity will be changed. He will learn shocking things that would mean n
Through dreadful experiences, David feels an emerging sense of adulthood. David and his parents are not on good terms with David's grandparents because Wes locked Frank in his basement. Julian, David's grandfather, is very unhappy that Wes would lock up his own brother despite the fact that Wes saves Frank the humiliation of going to jail. David faces an even more intimidating threat when he notices that a few of the hired hands from his grandfather's ranch come to his house to try and break Frank free. He comments, " These men must have figured, with Grandpa's help, that Frank was in the basement, and that rear door was the way they were going in after him..." (132). David is close to being an adult because he realizes how he must act and the gravity of the situation in which he and his family are involved. By now, David has issued forth a sense of development and maturity. He is far from the child who once looked forward to visits from his uncle and visits to his grandfather's ranch. As an adult, he is concerned with the welfare of his family and his parents' well being, emotionally. David exemplifies this and stands by his family when they are in need. He does not desert them or feel shameful. He stays loyal and true to those he cares for and loves. Thus, he has shown his ability to act as an adult would. othing to a child, but everything to an adult. Larry Watson suggests that traumatic experiences transform children into adults. Therefore, disturbing experiences lead to changes of mind, growth in morals, and an emerging sense of adulthood. David changes his mind about Uncle Frank through the traumatic experiences regarding th
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Approximate Word count = 1112
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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