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Comming Of Age

We’ve all experienced it. It involves becoming aware of our beliefs and morals, becoming aware of our strengths and our weaknesses. Coming of age and finding our identity. We all have our own stories to tell.
The novel Chain of Hearts by Maureen McCarthy explores this issue of growth and the search for identity in multiple ways. The character Sophie, in particular, changed dramatically through the story and overcame personal issues such as new friendships, love, death, and a great guilt. After a car accident in which her best friend dies, Sophie loses her previous care for her social life and self-image by completely shutting herself off from the people around her and making drastic changes to her appearance. This is a large part of her coming of age story.

The use of flashbacks as a language technique throughout the book, work well in contrasting Sophie’s personality before the death of her best friend and after when she is angst-ridden and the stereotypical, intolerable teenager. Before what Sophie calls the ‘Big Incident’ she struggles to find her mother’s approval.   The first time Sophie speaks up for herself is at a dinner with her father’s important business guests. She shocks and confuses her family, especially her controlling mother, by suddenly announcing she no longer wishes to work in the medical field like the rest of her family. Sophie’s defiant act is a complete turnaround to her previous character. Looking back on that day, she realises that though small, it was the beginning of her downward-spiral.
Another language techniques used is how Sophie imagines herself speaking to her history teacher as a way of self-counselling. It’s an effective way to show the viewer these flashbacks into her past as Sophie imagines herself recounting events to him. By talking to herself, questioning her motives and trying to find when and what started her chronic anger, It shows that she is trying to find her identity and is willing to make a change. It’s an...