What is a Bildungsroman?
Storified by Bella_ ·
Thu, May 05 2016 13:32:55
When you first hear the words bildungsroman you may bethinking, “What the heck is that?”. You may be thinking it has to do with theRoman Empire, roman warriors, buildings, construction, or people using elephant poop to build Roman statues (Chidera). Bildungsroman has actually nothing to do with any of these. A bildungsroman is a coming of age story in which the protagonist goes on a life journey from a child to an adult. So, in a way a bildungsroman does have something to do with the aspect of construction.Construction not in terms of building a structure, but rather constructing who the main character in a story is.
Protagonists in bildungsromans usually go through pain and suffering along the way on their journey, however, no matter what, the main character grows and develops from his or her experiences. Along the journey,the main character loses his or her childhood innocence and is directed into adulthood.
The story I read, a long way gone, has quite a bit to do with the coming of age genre. In the story, Beah was once an innocent childhood who enjoyed going to school, playing with his friends, and spending his time relaxing. Then one day all of this changes. The war reaches the town Beah is living in and his life is turned upside down. Beah goes from being a normal, innocent child to a war torn young man. Beah is forced to begin participating in the war and turns into a murderer at such a young age. He was so hyped up on drugs and mentally manipulated that he did not realize fully what he was doing.Physically he understood that he was committing a murderous act, however,mentally he was not fully aware of what he was doing. Once Beah was rescued and sent to a rehabilitation center, he was finally able to make sense of what had happened. He had thought that he was doing was an act of revenge for the people killing his family. After being sent to a center, he was able to understand that what he doing was not an act of revenge. He had been manipulated and did not mentally consent to what he was doing or participating in. Beah speaks of how when you get revenge on someone, they will want revenge, who will want revenge,and so on and so forth.
Through Beah’s time in the war, he was able to realize that what he had been doing was wrong and that getting or receiving revenge never works. Beah came of age and because of his experiences was able to realize an important life lesson. Beah also went from being an innocent young boy to one with many lasting experiences. Beah, through is experiences, was able to develop and mature. Going through war and realizing what he had done allowed for Beah to really fully mature and turn into the person he is today. Without the life experiences Beah had to go through, he would not be the person he is today.
This coming of age story is different because it is about a boy rather than a girl. If Beah had been a girl he would have perhaps been killed and would not be alive today. He would not have learned how to fight or defend himself. He would also perhaps been left behind at the compound or seen as just another person to feed.
Gender does somewhat matter in this context because if Beah had been a girl he would not have gone through the same experiences. Had Beah been a girl he would have never fought or participated in the war. He would have also never grown and developed in the same way that he did as a boy. Being a boy in the war gave Beah a different perspective and allowed for him to mature in a different way. Beah perhaps may have never realized how revenge does not work or come to see the world in the same way as he does today.
Coming to Ridley was a coming of age for me. Before coming to Ridley, I was somewhat mature, but being here really solidified that. At first, I would procrastinate quite a bit, however, always manage to get assignments done and put in lots of effort. After coming here, I have learned to manage my time. I have also never valued sleep as much as I do now. Before,I would always see going to bed early as a waste of my day or time. Now, I look forward to the time went I can close my eyes. Also, I would always hate getting up early, but now find myself getting up early all the time to complete assignments and get my homework done. Now that I am here at Ridley, I have developed into someone else. I no longer worry as much about what others think of me or that I have to please everyone. I am satisfied with being myself and do not find myself caring for what others think of me. Coming here to Ridley really helped me to develop as a person and understand who I am.
Coming of age stories relate to the world in the aspect that many people have coming of age events in their lives. Almost everyone has a turning point in their life when they changed, realized something, fully developed, or interpreted an important meaning. This time in their life allowed them to grow up and lose their childhood innocence. These events tell a journey from child to adult. It does not matter what race, nationality, ethnicity,color, or religion you are because we all go through similar coming of ages.