| This thesis explores the need for twenty-first century protagonists, specifically those of non-traditional traditions, ethnicities, and genders, to assimilate in coming-of-age novels. Their desire for acceptance marks a change from the typical coming-of-age rebellion found in classic twentieth-century novels. The protagonists in Jeffrey Eugenides Middlesex (2002), Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake (2003), and Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) all feel like outsiders when they compare themselves to their American peers and compare their ethnic cultures to American mainstream culture. |
