Deconstruction of Innocence in Twentieth-Century American Literature

When we talk about “loss of innocence” in literature, it means that the childhood of a particular character has come crashing down due to various reasons and the circumstances have pushed them into adulthood.

The Concept of Coming of Age

Deconstruction of Innocence is a very common theme in fiction and it basically refers to ‘coming of age’. We all go through this process and feel a multitude of emotions such as identity crisis, figuring out where we belong, an impending sense of alienation and a lot more.

This theme is common in American literature, especially 20th-century literature, and goes even back in history. The maturing of a character due to an unfortunate incident is termed as the loss of childhood innocence. The traumatic event the character goes through scars them for life and slowly & cautiously they learn how to navigate their lives despite everything that has happened.

Examples of Deconstruction of Innocence in American Literature

In American literature, we find many instances of deconstruction of innocence from The Catcher in the Rye to The Sound & the Fury. Innocence is usually related to a lack of knowledge and when the character becomes aware of the world around him, he loses that innocence.

The Catcher in the Rye

For example, in The Catcher in the Rye — an amazing coming of age novel — Holden Caulfield is the process of losing his innocence. After being expelled from various schools, he thinks that most of the people in the world are phonies.

Along with this, he is recovering from the loss of his brother’s death. He is having a hard time coming to terms with adulthood and wants to protect the innocence of children which is symbolic of him trying to protect his own innocence which he comes to terms with at the end of the book.

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is perhaps one of the most popular losses of innocence in the story. Scout, a six-year-old girl, is living in 1930s America where a black man has been accused of rape. As she grows up, she has to navigate through the terrible racism and racial stratification that exists in her world.

The American identity in literature varies through time and space. Even though we have progressed so much today, this story still is an emotionally hard journey for people who are facing racism of any sort and paves a way for rebellion in society.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Even though Christopher is fifteen, the fact that he has Asperger’s makes him a lot more innocent than his age fellows. His whole world is carefully balanced & structured to facilitate him. However, when his neighbor’s dog gets killed, he finds himself on a journey of self-discovery that shows him the reality of the world around him.

The loss of innocence in this story and Christopher’s journey gives us perspective as we try to understand and empathize with what the little fellow is going through.

His Dark Materials (Trilogy)

In the epic trilogy by Philip Pullman, loss of innocence is the main theme. The people in the story have “daemons” that keep on shifting shape till the person reaches puberty and then they settle on a shape that reflects their character.

The scientists try all sorts of illegal things and do horrific experiments to stop this from happening as they believe that introduction to sin & vice starts from loss of innocence. This trilogy explores this theme from all aspects & perspectives, and from a large scale and tells us about the psychology of rebellion in adolescence.

Deconstruction of Innocence — Final Word

From Hamlet by Shakespeare to The Odyssey by Homer, coming of age and loss of innocence is recurring in literature all over the world, not only in American Literature. Due to mishaps early on in their lives, many people miss out on childhood experiences and lose their innocence.

These children mature well ahead of their time. Many books — The Scarlet Letter, The Catcher in the Rye, A Separate Peace, etc. — revolve around this theme. People relate to them since we all have gone through similar phases in our lives and remember our coming of age stories when we read such books.