Theme Of Coming Of Age In Children Of Blood And Bone

Eventually in life, everyone will go through their own conflict and changes. As they navigate through life, their beliefs and feelings for others change. This can begin when their role in life is changing or growing and they must determine their priorities and true self. This theme, coming-of-age, is widely known as it is commonly represented in novels and applies to real-life. The literary work, Children of Blood and Bone, created by author Tomi Adeyemi, features this theme and uses many literary elements that distinctly express these obstacles in life, including: conflict, character, and motif. These elements show coming-of-age by conflict being Tzain refusing to accept Inan despite him trying to redeem himself, character when Inan is changing

This is shown in Children of Blood and Bone as Adeyemi shows the character Zelie experiencing change in her emotions and view of Inan; examples of such are developing trust and romantic feelings. The following passage on page 339 states, “When I writhe, Inan holds me closer. The sound of his beating heart pulses through my ears, steady and strong, like the crest of the tides. I find myself leaning into the sound...He reaches down and grazes a cut on my chin. A strange flutter travels through me at his touch”. Despite earlier discord between the two, Zelie is feeling comforted and at ease with Inan. She is beginning to see a whole new side of him and starts to learn just how caring and gentle he can be. Zelie is starting to see another side of Inan and view him differently than

The passage on pages 346 to 347 states, “Right before you burned our village to the ground?...But you knew when you cut Lekan down...“And when you tried to kill my sister last night? Were you a maji then?...Tell me you’re not this stupid.” A different kind of pain flashes behind his eyes. “You can’t trust him, Zél. Maji or not, he isn’t on our side...Inan speaks up. “I know you have no reason to trust me. But I don’t want to fight anymore. We all desire the same thing...A better Orïsha. A kingdom where maji like your sister don’t have to live in constant fear. I want to make it better...“Tzain—” “Forget it...“You’re always screwing everything up. Why stop now?” Regardless of hearing Inan say he intends to reconcile for his past mistakes and Zelie vouching for him, Tzain refuses to trust or believe him after his unforgivable actions. This dispute also creates tension between the siblings, Zelie and Tzain because Tzain believes that Zelie is making a mistake in trusting Inan and is not valuing her opinion or outlook on the