| "Initiation story" or "Bidungsroman" (another name is "Novel of education" or "Growing-up Novel ") is one of the traditional genres in the west literature focused on the period during which one's psychological develops from naivety to maturity, Moreover, through it, one's life can be opened and enlightened. A general mode of the plot of such novels is as follows: The hero or heroine draws inspiration from the growing up process and suffers reverses, undergoing the sharp-turn or finding something. Therefore he or she discovers himself or herself, goes on a right way to self realization through the struggle of one's own, and finally achieves a mature balanced moral. Some turning points are also indispensable. Most importantly, only provided with the crucial growth action or narration of the leading character taking a crucial step to maturity can a novel be called "Initiation story". The Cider House Rules the hero's growth has specially close relationship with reading. The growth guilder draws in various classical works of Bildungsroman mainly in Dickens' and Charlotte Bronte's about the orphans' growing up. Also in this novel, the characters who grow towards maturity (the leading characters) are orphans. They either like reading the classical works of Bildungsroman very much or think deeply in the daily life. The literary reading is mutually combined with interpreting life. The process is continuous, repeated and various. Reading is an important part of growing up during the "separating—changing—returning" of the growing period. The character's choice of life is linked with literary reading. And the classical Initiation stories chosen represent the direction of growth. The eye-catching repeated reading symbol appears in the each course of growth. Repeated reading makes the development of thoughts. The relation of intertextuality is between the novel and the classical Bildungsroman. Where there is the growth juncture, there are the classical words and sentences which echo the growing up. For this reason, the growth of readers as grower is similar to the growth of the leading characters of the classics. This relationship is formed by the grower' intervening-reading. Because of it, Initiation story like The Cider House Rules can echo many other kinds of Bildungsroman. |
