Julia's Coming-of-Age

One of my absolute favorite characters in Black Swan Green is Julia. Now that we are wrapping up this novel, I have gotten a chance to truly reflect on how Julia has changed and admire her remarkable personality. She goes through a less acknowledged, yet just as important, coming-of-age.

Now, I know that not all of us enjoyed Julia as a character in the beginning. Her teasing and acknowledgement of Jason overstepped certain sibling bounds. Referring to Jason as 'Thing' especially produced a sort of distaste among us. And rightfully so. However, many of her other mannerisms exuded a typical sibling relationship, most notably this one:

Julia said nothing for long enough to tell me she knew I was bullshitting. “Who said you could borrow Abbey Road? Her L.P. was by my crappy record player. “You hardly listen to it.” “Even if that were true, it wouldn’t make it your property. You never wear Granddad’s watch. Does that make it my property?” (36)

I am incredibly guilty of this tactic. I am sad to say that my sister has often been in the path of this wrath. I am sure that not many of us would be proud to be Julia at the beginning of Black Swan Green. However, as the novel progresses, she changes and slowly becomes a character that I began to admire. She begins exude a certain warmth and kindness in the midst of her parent's tense conflict. At the end of the novel, she still gets in the last word (typical of an older sister), but what she says is considerably more meaningful. Her coming-of-age is something that I would like to see for myself and my relationship with my siblings.

Now that I think more about it, this is a good topic for a reflective response paper...