Growth in "The Secret Lion"
Nature itself is a better teacher than any other, according to the narrator in The Secret Lion. In the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy, showing knowledge is
suspicious and not to be tolerated by adults. It's better to not ask questions
because questions get you in trouble. This view of things portrays the narrator as younger and less experienced, despite the repeated "we weren't stupid" (43). The narrator shows adults as not really having a "presence". They are there but the kids still feel alone. He goes on to talk about how there are new words floating around the school, and since it's a school, they should be able to ask the meaning and get an answer. Adults are shown as harsh figures, scolding and sending away the students who ask new questions. This tires the narrator, and shows how little he knows about the world he lives in. The growth portrayed from the beginning innocence, into more complicated, better expressed feelings that illiterate human nature as it learns and acquires knowledge.
The narrator and this best friend Sergio go to the river as summer starts, shouting insanities about how they are not young and stupid. As they do this by their old treehouse where they played and the markings they made on everything, paints an inexperienced picture of childhood. "it just felt good and for the first time in our lives there was nobody to tell us we couldn't. So we did," (44). Aside from showing youthfulness, this also presents the boys as gaining a freedom. Not exactly small and young as they were, but not quite adults either.
As summer is passing the boys find a grinding ball thrown off the bridge. Words in the story are starting to blend together and get jumbled, indicating a passing of time, or describing fast, jumbled, child-like thoughts. An example when they find the grinding ball; "GuyGodthis is perfect, thisisthis is perfect" and "it'sut's the best thing we'veeverseen. Whatisit?" (44). New things they experience still give the boys wonder and curiosity. Even as they fawn over it, they still have no clue what it is they are encountering. Adults, again, are shown as flippant characters as the two decide what to do with the new toy. They know the mom will not tolerate it, already expecting a "Getridofit" (44). In the end, they bury the ball, expecting to dig it up again though they never do. This shows the real start in character growth as they covered the ball and moved to new things. They describe how nature teaches things, (suggesting better than any teachers or adults would be able to) and that it teaches them harshly.
Time skips forward, though there is no more character growth. Even through moving to a new place, the narrator goes on to describe; "All we used were small words, neat, good. Kid words," (44). The display of better cognition around adult characters is still not approved along with the characters' need to prove that they are not entirely ignorant. This picture of the boys growing is somewhat dampened as more words continue to jumble. They have new "mountains" where they are living now. "Mountains for a small man," (45). They are still small in the world, and these
looming "mountainous" hills help display this. Also, as the story progresses, the continued use of "we" illustrates the two boys as one, instead of independent characters. The boys seem entirely dependent on one another, and there are no differences between the two. The author perhaps did this to show that the narrator was not capable to take on the world himself just quite yet. Words continuing to mesh, the two seek to explore these hills, thoughts of heaven and great things on the other side. The unknown continues to fascinate them. Youthfulness seeps through as the narrator and Sergio start climbing. "We had read the books, after all; we knew about bridges and castles and wildtreacherousraging alligatormouth rivers," (45). More consistent word-blending speeds through their climbing and quickly shows the other side. The two are faced with their picture of "heaven". There are trees and grass and singing birds, and they are completely amazed. They stop trying to prove they aren't nave as they fascinate at the things they haven't even begun to picture. They spend the day doing childish things and not caring at all. The words have stopped blending almost completely now though, and two men with clubs come to chase the boys off. This is the first major growth as the boys' "heaven" is shattered. The authors tone becomes more flat and impersonal as the men explain to the boys that they are playing on a golf course. "They had told us about heaven. And it went away. We got golf in exchange," (47). The duller, more advanced and better-expressed tone for the end of the story brings out the vision of maturity in the narrator. "It was the lion," (47). This last sentence could express many things. The main idea, however, is that it might symbolize growing up, or maturity as the buried their old joys to move on to new
discoveries. The portrayal of adolescence grows into more complicated, better expressed feelings that illiterates human nature as it learns and gains intelligence is exhibited many times in The Secret Lion.
