coming-of-age story

A type of novel where the protagonist is initiated into adulthood through knowledge, experience, or both, often by a process of disillusionment. Understanding comes after the dropping of preconceptions, a destruction of a false sense of security, or in some way the loss of innocence. Some of the shifts that take place are these: * ignorance to knowledge * innocence to experience * false view of world to correct view * idealism to realism * immature responses to mature responses Examples: * Jane Austen Northanger Abbey * Charles Dickens, Great Expectations * Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage