AP OPEN PROMPT

2008, Form B. In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.

Gelila Tefera

A.P British Literature

Mrs. Wilson

February 26, 2012

            In many pieces of literature, young characters are first portrayed as innocent and naïve. Some authors choose to take the path where they let their character grow from a journey situation to a more sophisticated and fulfilling adult life or they take the  path where the character’s choices leads to their loss of innocence and are ultimately unable to attain their aspirations. In the case of An Awfully Big Adventure, Beryl Bainbridge developed a character, Stella,  who wants to  be hurled into a grown up world to not only receive appreciation in her abilities but also acknowledgement and acceptance from the  person she loves.  Stella’s infatuation with adult ideals leads her to take on actions that will untimely lose her innocence.

            In Bainbridge’s  An Awfully Big Adventure, Stella is an aspiring actress at a local Liverpool theatre who falls in love with an older member of the theatre. Although Stella's beloved Meredith seems oblivious to her romantically, several of the adult males in the company find her more than attractive. Two of them make inappropriate advances, but Stella doesn’t give in into their advances at first. It occurs to her that it would be a good idea to practice so that she'll be a good lover when Meredith is ready for her. Because of this, she responds when young Geoffrey makes some advances.

Stella’s naïve and innocent nature is shown through her speech of colloquial diction. “He kept throwing up words whose meaning Stella more or less understood but would never have had the nerve to thread into a conversation. She was shaky on pronunciation (Bainbridge 30).” Stella’s colloquial diction , like using the word “muckier”, helps to portray her youth and innocence because there is not much complexity to it and is just regular conversational speech. This is very important to the development of the novel because it correlates with Stella’s fascination of being more of an adult and gaining experience. Bainbridge shows the sophisticated voice of Geoffrey by having him recite formal poetry lines from T.S. Elliot. The reader is able to grasp the idea that Geoffrey more experience and is older than Stella. Bainbridge uses this contrast between Stella and Geoffrey  help show Stella’s intrigue with this older character as she want to be hurled into adulthood  which is one of the major themes of this novel. Further, Stella’s use of Geoffrey as a way to attract Meredith shows that she is straying away from her naïve self by manipulating those around her.

            Although Stella has come to a point of maturity of sorts, her incomplete knowledge, naïve nature, and the discouraging behavior of the people around her leads to a discontent life through her quest for maturity.