The Voyage Within

This book on Adolescents in literature focuses on their cynicism and rebellion against the dubious values of the adult world followed by their intensified search and exploration of inner life. A coherence has been established linking four varied and disparate texts in the metaphor of the journey that leads the protagonists towards the final 'moments of realization' about themselves. This 'internal awakening' at the end of their journeys make them truly conscious of their own strength, and help carve a legitimate space of their own in their community. In a very real sense their journeys will continue. The issues the study raises are universal enough, timeless enough, to transcend the boundaries of age, place or condition. To complete the journey one has to continually break down the walls and discover doorways-new areas of life and experience, about which one has remained ignorant. Hopefully this study will help establish a rapport of feeling, an aura of 'shared experience,' to awaken a concern for what is fundamental and enduring. A person's remaining hope is to return to his inner self.