Montana 1948 Coming Of Age Analysis

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Throughout the entire novel, Watson makes a very clear distinction between the events that happened in the kitchen and the events that happened in the basement. Watson uses the two contrasting rooms in the house to relate back to the theme that Montana 1948 is indeed a coming of age novel. Every single event, whether David was present in the kitchen or not, was all very childish. Nothing major ever gets accomplished in the kitchen. The kitchen represents a place where all the problems can be avoided for the moment. It appears that the kitchen is where you can act completely normal, such as “You never said you didn’t believe it. Why is that...He didn’t say a word. He simply picked up his fork and continued to eat...(pg 54)”. In this instance, Gail is attempting to…show more content…
Wes just continues to eat his cake in silence like a question wasn’t directed at him and like there isn’t a pressing matter in his life right now that needed to be sorted. However, in the basement are where all the major conversations happen and where all the pivotal moments occur in the novel. An example of a pivotal conversation in the novel would be when “…But two men did not come through the door. It was my father alone. ‘I’ll move him to jail first thing in the morning’ (pg. 149)”. This specific scene in the novel further shows the contrast between the kitchen and the basement in terms of the two different mindsets being childlike and the adult perspective. However, this does not show how the contrast of these 2 relates back to the theme of coming of age. David went from being “left out” of what was going on with all the conversations until the end of the novel when he “ran down the stairs. I first saw the blood swirled like oil through the other liquids.” “I backed away quickly, glad to have a mission that would take me out of the basement (pg. 169)”. At this point in the
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