Adulthood

"Hush up!" F. Jasmine said. The jail did not frighten her this evening, for this time tomorrow she would be far away. She gave the jail a last glade then walked on. "How would you like for someone to holler something like that to you if you were in jail?"


This scene is the turning point for Frankie's coming of age story. In this moment, we can see F. Jasmine beginning to develop the ability to empathize with others, an emotion that she was previously unable to demonstrate. As children develop, their ability to feel empathy and compassion for others develops also, a sign of maturity. This scene foreshadows her budding adulthood through her emotional changes. The scene also goes on to show her understanding of childhood by choosing not to explain the scene with the crazy man to John Henry, which is a learned skill that requires retrospective after the phase. Her empathy befittingly is first shown with the people that she identifies with- those in jail, because she herself feels alone and caged in her lack of identity. She cannot see that through the development of her ability to identify and empathize with others she will eventually find her niche and become joined with others, and in doing so, become her own self.