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The Maturity of Characters in Butlers Dawn Analysis

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The Maturity of Characters in Butler's Dawn

Maturity is an aspect that gradually develops in human beings from young age to

adulthood. Maturity is the ability of a human being to act and respond to environment with

regard to the right time, location and with the correct behavior. Human beings mature in different

ways, which include physical and emotional maturity (Turiel 21). Emotional maturity dictates

that one is able to understand and manage their own emotions so as to create a happy and

fulfilment in their life and that of people and objects around them. Several developmental

theorists have come forth to explain and describe maturity in human beings as a process that

takes both time and is influenced by other factors such as the environment. Lawrence Kohlberg

in his six moral developmental stage theory suggests that there are several factors that are

involved in human development for one to be fully developed and mature. Among the

developmental stages defined by Kohlberg includes the preconceived, conventional and post

conventional. According to Kohlberg, these stages are relevant in a child’s moral, cognitive and

physical development. This makes maturity a relevant topic in contemporary society, which is

also featured by several literary figures in their works. One of the literary works that portrays

maturity in its characters is a novel by Octavia Butler titled “Dawn”. The paper will analyze the

topic of maturity in relation to the novel by Octavia Butler “Dawn”, by drawing from other

definitions of maturity to demonstrate how Lilith, her half-Oankali son and the Oankali portrayed

maturity particularly in their actions and thoughts towards each other.

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Maturity is an attainment of a stage in one’s life that portrays their ability to comprehend

matters and issues in life. Maturity is also the ability in an individual to be mentally and

emotionally sound with regard to their environment and factors taking place around them. The

way people handle their own issues or other people in and around their life portrays the level of

their maturity. In most cases, maturity comes with experience in life particularly to those people

who are able and willing to learn from their environment and experiences. Apart from emotional

and mental maturity, there is also physical maturity, which is the state of developing in bodily,

flesh or physical being. Human beings are said to be well developed after portraying desirable

and sensible characteristics that engage their mental and emotional being.

Kohlberg’s theory of development articulates the steps of human development in a step

by step procedure. First, Kohlberg gives an expansion of cognitive development as earlier

defined by Jean Piaget, which explains the moral development of children in a series of stages

(Turiel 26). Kohlberg gives three levels of development in children and explains the stages and

characteristics of each, while emphasizing the fact that each stage is important for the next level

of development and the full attainment of maturity. The first stage as given by Kohlberg is

preconventional, which is characterized by three stages that nurture maturity. A child in

preconventional stage is nowhere near maturity because they are not internalized or adopted to

society’s conventions regarding right and wrong. However, in this level, children focus on the

consequences of given actions. This is a level in development whereby a child tries to adopt to

the environment and what they see adults do through imitation. This level consist of obedience,

punishment and orientation, which also helps to define the way children perceive things after

being punished for their actions. Also, instrumental orientation is stage two reasoning, which

describes children’s alignment with the right behavior based on loyalty and intrinsic respect.

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Surname 1 Name Course Professor Date The Maturity of Characters in Butler's Dawn Maturity is an aspect that gradually develops in human beings from young age to adulthood. Maturity is the ability of a human being to act and respond to environment with regard to the right time, location and with the correct behavior. Human beings mature in different ways, which include physical and emotional maturity (Turiel 21). Emotional maturity dictates that one is able to understand and manage their own emotions so as to create a happy and fulfilment in their life and that of people and objects around them. Several developmental theorists have come forth to explain and describe maturity in human beings as a process that takes both time and is influenced by other factors such as the environment. Lawrence Kohlberg in his six moral developmental stage theory suggests that there are several factors that are involved in human development for one to be fully developed and mature. Among the developmental stages defined by Kohlberg includes the preconceived, conventional and post conventional. According to Kohlberg, these stages are relevant in a child’s moral, cognitive and physical development. This makes maturity a relevant topic in contemporary society, which is also featured by several literary figures in their works. One of the literary works that portrays maturity in its characters is a novel by Octavia Butler titled “Dawn”. The paper will analyze the topic of maturity in relation to ...
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Tags: physical and emotional maturity Emotional Maturity maturity in human beings developmental stage theory cognitive and physical development