Coming of Age experiences are expressed through many stories. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen is just one of them. The main character, Ruby went through many different conflicts during her coming of age. Through this character, I realized that family is a very big and important aspect during this time. Family can influence your coming of age in positive or negative ways, as it did for Ruby. Not only did family affect Ruby's coming of age, but it also affected Lori Natelli's coming of age as I learned through her interview.
Ruby's coming of age experience was not too good. This was mainly because of her family. Her mom left her without any notice when she was only 17. She lived by herself for a few months, but soon everything started to fall apart. Someone discovered that she had no guardian at home with her and then she had to go and live with her sister and brother-in-law that she hadn't seen for years. Ruby did not like it at all. She was still growing up and it affected her and her way of life. She thought that it affected her negatively and not think about the good things about it. She had to go to a new school and live in a new house and she had to be with people, new people. She also couldn't be as independent as she was, she liked being independent. To her, this affected her coming of age experience negatively because she tried to run away and had to be with people that she didn't really want to be with. She was no longer the leader of her own life, her sister was. That same sister that had a not so good relationship with Ruby. You can say that this affected her negatively because she had to move on, but in the same respect you are able to say that this affected her positively because she had to move on and start over. She had some people who cared for her, she had money, shelter, and she started to meet new people and become a new, more open and grateful person. As you can see, having a family and not having family affected Ruby's coming of age and changed her and gave her experiences to learn from.
Just like Ruby's life was affected by family so was my interviewee's life, Lori Natelli. Her coming of age was affected positively and negatively, and affected who is she today, which is what coming of age does. Throughout the time when my mom was growing up, her mom was a single parent. Her family just consisted of her, her mom, and her brother. This family of hers affected her life because she had to "lose a bit of time" on growing up. She had to be mature pretty early and take on a lot of responsibility to help her mom and keep the family in place. This is similar to Ruby because Ruby matured very early because when she did live with her mom, her mom was immature and didn't do much for Ruby. They both also had to do things they didn't want to do, Ruby changing her life and moving in with people she didn't want to move in with, and my mom having t help her brother a lot and work at a very young age. But with both of these girls, their coming of age experiences helped them to become strong, mature and responsible young women.
Family is just one of the things that affect coming of age. But it can change who you are, what you can and can't do and who you're going to be. But by having a more difficult or experienced coming of age, it can make you a better person in the long run. In Lock and Key, the fact that the only family that Ruby had left her, she had to change her lifestyle. And due to the fact that Lori Natelli had a smaller family that expected, she had to take up a lot of responsibility and change. Coming of age experiences can either make or break you, but I've learned that many things can influence it and have a lasting effect.
