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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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