When I decided to write about this topic for my honors project and then read a To Kill a Mockingbird and later read a much more contemporary story, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I noticed a strong difference in my emotional reactions to both those novels, and as opposed to just doing a self-discovery themed honors project, I decided to analyze these works and determine how classic novels like Mockingbird can bring out different reactions from readers as opposed to a contemporary novel like Wallflower. Stories about people (especially adolescents) discovering a part of themselves that they have never known, literary or mainstream, may have similar premises of childhood and adolescense, but they seem to omit differing emotions to readers because of literary elements that change how the reader thinks about the novel. In this way, the contemporary setting of the 21st century has changed the viewpoints of millennial audiences in reading fiction through historical changes, their presentations of conflict, and their language and grammar.
First of all, the historical movements and events of our time have always affected the way we tell our stories and the internal and external struggles of the protagonists in those stories that correspond with the events. Stories have always been a response to the modern times. As the times, industries and modalities change, so do the stories. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the 1930’s, a period of economic turmoil in the Great Depression. In addition, the racial tension in the time period that affects the main conflict of the story in a black man’s rxxe trial, also a prominent presence throughout the story. Harper Lee’s rich, well-fleshed out characters are deeply influenced by the time period, so reading about an era several decades ago can give the reader an insight of what the time period was like, but can also make it very hard to connect with the external struggles of these characters living in a time that we cannot genuinely know what is like. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky’s high school coming-of-age story, takes place in a more modern new era of cliques and teen social structures, and through this viewpoint, we see our protagonist Charlie’s discoveries about friendship that he makes throughout the story be very similar to our own. These characters can be more relatable for readers since the protagonists are teens living in a generation adjacent to ours, so their situations and stories can be elevated to a level of emotion that Mockingbird cannot, through its scenarios that are very reminiscent of the real world. In Wallflower, there is one primary factor of the historical context of the novel, however, that keeps it from having the wide-reaching connection between the author and the reader. Paper Towns, a novel by contemporary teen coming-of-age writer John Green, may have the most deep-rooted connection with the reader when reading it due to the story and characters taking place in our own generation – the era of technology. The use of technology in the novel as an incitement of conflict, causing endless chaos, is very reminiscent of our generation and its unique qualities, so I think this novel may just be the most exciting to read because of these undeniably relatable or even nostalgic settings and situations. This further proves my statement that the settings in coming-of-age stories have a powerful impact on the reader’s emotional investment in the story.
The presentation of conflict in these novels also impact the reader’s reaction to the story and characters. In both literary and mainstream novels, conflict arises, but will be presented in a way that is more apparent and less nuanced in mainstream novels than it would be presented in strict literary fiction. In To Kill a Mockingbird, near the climax of the novel, Atticus Finch tells his family that “They shot him [Tom Robinson]. They say he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over.” (Lee 268) In a novel about a child’s loss of innocence, this was one of the most powerful examples of injustice and inequality, but one that was excruciatingly violent. As is the case for many other literary classics, the presentation of conflict is much more gritty and realistic, fully exploiting the violence and cruelty of the real world to the readers, which can make it extremely surprising and almost jarring in today’s age. In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, we learn that our protagonist Charlie was molested. We learn about the character who molested Charlie and the deep psychological trauma of a person that can cause them to take advantage of innocent people to release their mixed emotions in such a deep, straightforward way that is a step back from the violent injustice in Mockingbird, but is just as shocking and effective to the reader. Finally, in Paper Towns, the conflict is presented very simply. In a quest for revenge on their high school enemies, Margo Roth Spiegelman, the main source of conflict in this novel, tells our main protagonist Quentin that “Tonight, we are going to right a lot of wrongs. And we are going to wrong some rights.” (Green 30) This simple invitation to vengeance that begins this long story of similar conflicts is very lighthearted, and in the same manner of our generation. These distinctive conflicts make most mainstream fiction easier to read and accessible to a wide range of audiences, and so Paper Towns can be a very compelling novel to read in our wild new technology-infused world. In this way, the presentation of conflict can drastically impact the mindset of the reader while reading the novel.
The language and grammar has changed so drastically over the ages and so have the meaning of words, affected by what is happening in the societal and political front, which can change drastically through the ages. In a coming-of-age story, this can be very important because the slang and the language of our characters are the voices that drive the entire story. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee used descriptive, rich language to describe the town of Maycomb, Alabama and its people. She used local slang that would have been used in at that time and used adjectives describing characters and settings that belonged to the period but also showed the reader exactly how the characters that inhabited this town viewed them. “Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courtyard sagged in the square,” (Lee 5) our protagonist Scout comments at the beginning of the novel. These descriptions are old-fashioned, developing the setting magnificently, but again, this could be hard for the reader to connect with since this is an unfamiliar setting. In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the grammar and language used is very intimate and personal. Charlie begins the novel with “I am writing to you because she said you would listen and understand and didn’t try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have.” (Chbosky 2) From the first sentence in the book, we learn about the introverted mindset of the character, which adds to the reader’s empathy towards our protagonist and his unique modern worldview. Paper Towns has an abundance of “John Green-isms”, certain stylistic choices in Green’s writing that make his novels contemporary and sets them apart from others. Quentin tells Margo before their quest of revenge that “I’m IM’ing with Ben Starling.” (Green 25), and later, Margo tells Quentin that “Everything’s uglier up close.” (Green 57) These statements are exclusively used in our 21st century, and so the reason John Green’s novels have struck chords as tales of adventure and self-discovery with modern youth readers is because the slang used in his stories’ amusing situations remind us of our own eccentric lives. Through these examples, we can understand that prose tends to be emphasized in literary fiction whilst mainstream fiction will utilize unique stylistic writing in order to get to the meat of the narrative. In literary fiction, the plot isn’t the main focus of the novel; rather, the social issues and character developments at the time are infused throughout the writing. This also proves my point that language and grammar can also affect how modern readers read literary vs. mainstream stories of self-discovery.
The contemporary setting of the 21st century has changed self-discovery, or how people “come of age” in fiction, therefore changing the viewpoints of millennial readers. History, conflict, and language changes, just like anything else over time. The farther away we stray from traditional values, the harder it can be to connect to characters coming of age in stories set in times that we no longer live in. Coming-of-age novels have truly changed the viewpoints of modern audiences in reading fiction through historical changes, their presentations of conflict, and their language and grammar.
Originally published 15.10.2019