Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor and "Indian Camp" by Ernest Hemingway

When Coming of Age is Too Much

The coming-of-age story is a classic of literature, from The Adventures of Huck Finn to Catcher in the Rye and The Outsiders, and learning the lessons of being an adult is never easy. The journey from childhood to adulthood requires a loss of innocence and idealism, which sometimes come at a very steep price. In an ideal world, one not often found in fictional initiation stories, the steps into adulthood are trying but not overwhelming, effective but not devastating. For lead characters Nick Adams in Ernest Hemingway's "Indian Camp," and Hulga Hopewell in Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People," the price is ultimately too steep and their initiation into adulthood is a failure. For Nick and Hulga, the revelations about the realities of adulthood are too scary and too much to deal...
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