William Armstrong
Mr. Zanni
English 9H D
3/18/14
Maturity: That Thing That Actually Separates The Men From The Boys Becoming mature is one huge part of growing up. It is not only a physical, but also a mental change in a person, as they get older. As John McNaughton once stated, “Maturity begins when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself.” As people mature, they begin to thin of not only themselves, but also of those around them. Two literary works that would support John McNaughton’s statement are a Christmas Carol and The Haunted Man, both of which are written by Charles Dickens. In both A Christmas Carol and The Haunted Man, Dickens uses plot, setting, and characterization to brilliantly show the importance of maturity throughout times of learning and new growth. Dickens cleverly constructs the plot of A Christmas Carol so Scrooge learns to think not only of himself but to be considerate of others throughout the whole story. Instead of placing his revelation at one point in the story, Dickens stretches his lessons in three separate encounters spanning the whole story. Each ghost acts as a threshold guardian to Scrooge, and provides him with insight on his past, present, and future actions that will eventually lead to the demise of himself and those around him. The arrangement of the visits going from the Ghost of Christmas Past, to the Ghost of Christmas Present, and finally to the Ghost of Christmases to Come allow Scrooge to grow and mature as these events unfold. Dickens also specifically picked Christmas to supplement his themes of growth and change. Christmas is a time of rebirth and new life. With this mindset, Scrooge has learned also to care for others around him. Dickens has a superb demonstation of setting in The Haunted Man. This novel of his, is also set on Christmas.