Coming of Age in America
The compilation of stories “Coming of Age in America…” is a revealing and grabbing documentary account of the tensions of growing up and self-identifying. The majority of the stories relate to my personal experience
as a single mom raised with two siblings. The relating of the anthology to my personal experience linked my childhood especially to Collier’s “Marigolds” and Jen’s “What means Switch” as a great illustration of the
transitionary age period.
My family was never well-off. I do not remember my mother very often at home, as she was predominantly busy with sustaining my life and the two of my brothers. She rarely participated in the long heartfelt conversations
concerning my issues with the body, perceiving myself as a grown-up and responsibility I was deemed to experience. However, “Marigolds” mysteriously mirrored the perception of my home, where I always felt safe,
protected and loved. The sweetness of “Miss Lottie’s marigolds…a bright splash against the dust” reminded me of the constantly neat and cozy home I felt happy to return to from my middle school (Frosch, 1994, p. 27). The
author stated that during the Depression years she always experienced unexplained joy observing them in the neighbor’s window. For her, it was a sign of hope for the better and protest against the surrounding gloominess.
Similarly, the remembrance of my colorful and bright home returns me the feeling of peace when I grew up. This memory might work as proof to the significance of symbols in human life when they lose hope or experience a
difficult period. And despite the fact, that my mother was rarely at home, I still feel overwhelming love for her when the colors of our flat return to my memory.
I felt similar attachment observing one of the most crucial stories – Jen’s “What means Switch” (Frosch, 1994, p. 64). The issues of middle school take place in the life of every individual for the different reasons. In my case, I was unwelcome in my class during to the income gap and the time I spent over my studies. When the majority of the schoolchildren took their time with parties and cafes, I realized we were our mother’s only hope. And though my brothers did not express this directly, I saw this from their attitude. I was much more attached to them
than to the class so I did not experience the necessity of making friends there. Jen’s issue was a language barrier and default with “being accepted” (Frosch, 1994, p. 66). Similarly, I found this obstacle in my shy nature
and unwillingness to leave the comfort zone. Despite the absence of the contemporary discriminative politics against the Chinese population, an individual still might become an outcast for any pretext. Accordingly,
Jen’s story remains relevant to the majority of schoolchildren forced to …
