“Part of spiritual and emotional maturity is recognizing that it’s not like you’re going to try to fix yourself and become a different person. You remain the same person, but you become awakened” (Kornfield). This thoughtful quote by Jack Kornfield perfectly describes the protagonist’s journey in the book Zack by William Bell. Zack was a troubled boy, confused of who he is and where he comes from, but only after he accepted himself did he really mature and saw the world in its true state.
The book first introduces the protagonist as a rebellious teenager who is negligent of his marks, family, and general surroundings. The main reason for Zack’s behavior is based off of his uncertainty of his singularity. The protagonist is a rare mix of Jewish and AfroAmerican which causes tyrannizing in school. Zack is well familiar with his Jewish side of the family however, something is absent in his life as he does not know much about his African roots. As the story progresses, Zack eventually decides to take action and goes on a journey of self-discovery to learn more about his roots.
William Bell creates a perfect chronicle of experiences that reveals Zack discovering shocking, lifechanging information about the world’s past, maturing him as an adolescent as he learns about the horrors of human history. t is clearly shown throughout the story that the protagonist is gaining self-awareness and taking responsibility for his actions as he learns more about the universe surrounding him. Relationships are constantly built, and strengthened as Zack grows.
The book Zack by William Bell is a marvelous example of a coming-of-age story as it includes all characteristics of one uch as, an eye-opening journey that helps the protagonist mature, the main character gaining self-awareness, and relationships develop as the protagonist arises as a person. A coming of age story is defined by several components, one of those is a thoughtful plot that shows the protagonist’s transition from childhood to adulthood through a series of events that shapes their morals and beliefs. In a coming-of-age story the leading character is usually situated to be around teenage years, in a state of confusion with themselves and the world around them, as it is in the book Zack.
The character conventionally goes through some sort of voyage that will help them discover themselves. William bell was able to apply all the mentioned elements of a coming-of-age story in his book Zack. There are many conspicuous facotrs that support the plot. For example, the first sign that entices the fact the main character is growing is when Zack puts great effort into his history project that would help him uplift his mark to make his parents and teacher proud. This is the first indication in the book that shows Zack taking responsibility and care for something that would benefit him, his parents and the teacher.
As the protagonist mentioned in the book on page 64 “once more I began to doubt that the stuff Thad found would make a project solid enough to satisfy Ms. Song. ” This part truly shows Zack starting to care about others and attempting to succeed in something which is a definite sign of maturing. Also, another great example that makes the book as excellent as it is, is proofed towards the end of the book when Zack finally comes out of denial and accepts that his mother was not the blame for his unfamiliarity with his African roots.
Zack acknowledged and agreed that he was wrong for blaming his mother all through his life which is extremely difficult as is shakes the foundation of all he once believed. The protagonist decides to blame the one responsible for his uncertainty with his background, this shows great maturity. This scene is proved on page 163, “some of these people are related to me and, the man beside me had kept me from them, not my mother. ” All in all, there are much brilliant and relatable evidence in the novel that proves William Bell’s book contains a coming-of-age story.
Maturity is proven in many different ways, one of the principal character traits that show maturity is self-awareness. Acknowledging and being conscious of one’s own attitudes, actions and character is self-awareness. In the beginning of the book starts with the protagonist not being familiar with himself or his personality however, as the book progresses he becomes more known with who he is. Zack became mindful with his mistakes and believed them which display the fact that he is conscious of himself. To give an example from chapter 2 part 3 of the book, “I admit I misled you.
I confess I’m responsible for the truck. I’ll pay for it. But I’m not sorry I went to Mississippi, so you may as well lay off the criticism. ” This quote perfectly shows the protagonist’s selfawareness. Not only did he apologize and took responsibility for what he had done but he also had his priorities straight which shows notable self-consciousness. To add on, another case is, when Zack decides on his future and what university he wants to attend in the future. Choosing a life path is extremely difficult and one must be a aware of their own desires, goals and abilities to make such decision.
Conclusively, the book Zack showed the protagonist gaining self-awareness as the book advanced. A coming-of-age book must always contain supporting characters that play a crucial role in the protagonist’s development. In the book zack, William Bell put the protagonist in many different situations in which he had to strengthen and break relationships in order to grow up. During the first few paragraphs, Zack was quite lonesome as he did not have any friends or a promising relationship with his family however, as he matured and gained a better understanding of the people around him, he became more welcoming to his relationships.
Mending and building relationships are all part of maturing as one’s bonds with others define them as a person in the society. There are many examples in the book that show Zack mature through his new or existing relationships such as, his bond with Jen. In the introductory portion of the book Jen is revealed as an acquaintance of the protagonist however, when Jen’s cousin hits Zack with a racist remark, he reacts exceptionally childish and ceases all contact with Jen.
As the plot proceeds and Zack thrives he decides to retrieve his relationship with len, this is a fantastic evidence of responsibility and maturity from the protagonist. Additionally, another supreme corroboration in the storyline that shows Zack’s relationship being affected positively due to his developments is when Zack realized that his mother was not one to blame for his uncertainty with his roots and decides to strengthen his bond with her.
Zack proved his determination to make things right with his mother by commencing to open up to her and start being honest with her. Conclusively, throughout the plot Zack proves maturity and responsibly by Mending, breaking and strengthening relationships he had damaged because of his childish like behaviour in the past. Consequently, Zack by William Bell is most definitely a coming of age novel because it demonstrates all critical components with equal strength. e novel is composed of multiple strong examples of all elements that are necessary to create an intriguing coming of age story.
Zack Lane, the protagonist, starts off as a recalcitrant and negligent child that is absolutely oblivious to the fact that the world is much more than what he is used to. Zack was confused by his identity and unfamiliar with his african roots, which caused him to shape his morals incorrectly however, as the plot progresses, he grows and matures when he begins to unravel more and more “secrets” about his family and the world around h
