A Company Of Laughing Faces Analysis - 944 Words

Stories of teenage years and coming-of-age have always enrapt children, teens, and adults alike. But why do they? These groups share virtually none of the same interests, and reside in very different emotional levels of life. In every other form of media, these groups can scarcely coexist—the prospect of watching Power Rangers for the six hundredth time would make any parent blanch, and the thought of their four year old asking to borrow his parents’ copy of The Canterbury Tales is laughable. And surely no other age group would condemn themselves so deeply to internet culture than teens. Coming of age stories, however, are the exception. Nadine Gordimer beautifully explains this phenomenon in her short story â€Å"A Company of Laughing Faces†.†¦show more content†¦This excitement and nervousness compels Kathy to pursue all odds to become one of the grown-ups. This would appear to lead her away from individuality, but it ultimately, after finally being pu shed over the edge into maturity, allows a more profound realization that she doesn’t need to conform. However, before this can occur, Kathy must experience what all teenagers do: the process of trial and error. Kathy, after arriving at the resort, finds herself â€Å"[carrying] through the motions of pleasure† (Gordimer 102). These motions are what Kathy believes will help her fit in, though she’s not entirely convinced she is as devoted to this as she once was. When she was still in a childish phase, now being a teenager, she was absolutely shore that she was going to fit in at the beach (pun intended). Yet when she gets there, she finally grasps that it is not going to be so easy. She sacrifices her personal pleasure in order to conform, afraid of standing out, and Gordimer makes it known to the audience that this was a fault on Kathy’s part. She compares Kathy to an automaton, using metaphor to explain how lifeless she has become in her quest to, in the words of Horace, â€Å"carpe diem.† Instead of seizing the day, she’s choking the life out of it. Finally, Kathy does learn her lesson—unfortunately, however, it takes the ending of a life toShow MoreRelatedThe Deconstruction of Raskolnikov as ÃÅ"bermensch Essay examples1427 Words   |  6 Pagesremark in opposition of Raskolnikov’s assumed identity. It is the debasement of a man-god, to be more apt a superman, who is ever so close to falling off the perch and into the abyss. â€Å"It was impossible to be sure, but it seemed to Raskolnikov that his face again wore its coldly hostile and triumphant smile† (231). Raskolnikov as the extraordinary man seeks not greatness but justice to serve his pursuits. 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