Crow Lake vs. Stand by Me Paragraph

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The most important aspect of a coming of age story is a character’s ability to face and overcome struggles, both inner and outer, leading to their growth in mentality and descent into adulthood. Furthermore, I believe that the main character Gordie in the film Stand by Me displays a far more effective coming of age story than Kate from the novel Crow Lake. Facing an internal struggle and finding a self satisfying resolution is a driving force which powers Gordie to grow as a character yet inhibits Kate. Throughout the film, Gordie has been burdened with his brother Denny’s death and neglect from his parents whilst feeling guilty for not crying at the funeral which is clear when he says, “It should have been me. It should have been me who was killed!” (Stand by Me, 1986). Later though, he finally comes to terms with the death by crying about it and understands that his parent’s neglect is unrelated to his actions but instead their mourning. Through this internal realization, Gordie is able to sort through his emotions and come to terms with both death and neglect, displaying a development of self identity. Unlike Gordie though, Kate in Crow Lake struggles with what she perceives to be the tragedy of her brother Matt’s lack of education, yet shows no growth in her thinking as she carries a similar mentality into adulthood. Gordie’s determination to overcome other’s expectations for him, leading to his success, is something which Kate never experienced, subsequently strengthening Gordie’s maturity but not Kate’s. Despite Gordie being overshadowed by his brother’s achievements and his parent’s belief that he will amount to nothing, as proved when his best friend Chris says, “Your dad doesn’t give a shit about you or your writing. Denny was the one he cared about and don’t tell me different.” (Stand by Me, 1986), he takes on the responsibility of his own future and
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