Looking For Alibrandi Passages Essay

“Looking for Alibrandi” explores many complexities of adolescence. Discuss with close reference to the text.

All adolescents experience many rites of passages due to the turbulence they face during that changing period of their life. Looking for Alibrandi underlines the difficulties and hurdles faced by adolescents due to the changes that hinder their journey and must be overcome before progressing through to adulthood. Melina Marchetta successfully explores some of these many rites of passages including social status, family difficulties and cultural acceptance.

One of the many hardships that Josie overcomes involves the acceptance of her cultural heritage. Melina Marchetta’s use of metaphor, “culture is nailed into you so deep, you
She does not want to be hidden behind a barrier of illegitimacy and the fact that she does not live with a father. However the use of metaphor in, “she loves us even if it is in a suffocating way, and that makes me feel very guilty,” shows that even early on in the novel Josie still feels the importance of family. When Josie faces the prospect of meeting her father for the first time her fear is evident by the use of metaphor in, “my heart began to pound at one hundred miles an hours,” which also underlines another family complexity that some adolescents may face. The metaphor also emphasises the mixture of apprehension and curiosity that confuses many teenagers. However near the end of the novel, Marchetta’s use of hyperbole in, “I cried because I was loved by two of the strongest women,” highlights the changes that Josie has undergone and her new found positive feelings toward her family. During adolescence you will face many complexities and complications that may arouse within your family but in the end your family bonds will be stronger than