Innocence to Experience Throughout many narratives in media, there often exists a progression of development that the primary character experiences, in response to the conditions of their world or the structure of the narrative around them. Often, characters are subjected to some painful moment or some platform through which they can grow and learn, and this helps them develop into a more mature, centralized being. With this growth is a loss of the sense of innocence that the character had originally. As a result, they develop from naive and inexperienced to cunning and products of the experiences that they obtain throughout life. This sort of archetype is present in books such as Harry Potter, Little Women, and Treasure Island. In each of these narratives, the character is forced to experience something which takes a part of their innocence but gives them a plethora of mature characteristics in exchange. …show more content…
This same sort of story and subsequent thematic progression is represented in the book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This story tracks the progression of Jo March as she grows from a young, naive girl to a powerful woman. One of the immediate similarities that are present between Harry Potter and the March girls is the absence of a paternal figure, as her father figure is missing in the beginning. Yet, this doesn 't stifle the March girls or their attempts to grow as they find conflicts between what society has engineered for them and what their ambitions define themselves. Jo primarily craves independence for herself throughout the story 's progression and its something that she pursues as she grows older. When she 's younger, she hasn 't been able to leave the comforts of her own home much, and the limitations set forth by society deeply disrupt her plans to grow and step out on her own in