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Character Analysis Of Growing Up In John Steinbeck's Short Story

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Growing up is a part of life. Different events and circumstances that we face in life and how we deal with them define us who we are today. In this novella, John Steinbeck used four short stories to portray how a naïve young boy transformed into a man through his encounters with various unfortunate events. These harsh truths brought young Jody out of his fantasy perfect world and showed him the tough reality of life. Through these numerous events, he has learnt what disappointment is, what life and death is and how life does not always go according to one’s wish and desire. He also learnt that despite all these negative aspects of life, these were exactly the very same things that guided him through his path to manhood. In this story, John Steinbeck portrayed Jody’s relationship with different characters and took us through the journey of how each of the character played a role in transforming little Jody into a responsible, sensible, mature young man. The story is about this 10 year old Jody whose world was as big as the ranch that he lived in. He dreamt of adventure and independence. For little Jody, his dad, Carl Tiflin and Billy Buck were strong and undefeatable figures for whom he had utmost respect. He believed that there was nothing that two of them could not do. However, the …show more content…

Beyond excited and proud to take on this adventure, Jody took on the responsibility for the care of Gabilan immediately. His step towards maturity began when he no longer had to depend on the breakfast triangle of his mother to wake up and adopted a new sense of self-discipline. However, in the process of taking care of Gabilan, he forgot about his other responsibility of house chores. Little Jody had yet to learn the art of taking on multiple responsibilities and be worthy of

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