The Human Comedy Essay, Research Paper

Human Maturity

William Saroyan s The Human Comedy, deals with ravages of life. Due to these trials, Homer is forced to mature. How he matures is a result of facing the challenges. Two very import themes that help homer mature are family and death.

Homer represents the men of the house because he works and earns money for the family. For example, he goes to school until three o clock, then goes to work until midnight. Going to school and working is very hard but it needs to be done for the family to survive. In addition, Homer needs to be both a father and a big brother for Ulysses. Homer loves and cares for Ulysses, and he teaches Ulysses about life, and physical appearance. Finally, Homer said, Any work that has to be done around here, men can do. Girls belong in homes, taking care of men. (Pg. 157) Homer is rewarded for being the man of the house by getting love and shelter from his family. Love is needed from the family to keep Homer supporting the family. Homer becomes mature by working, but looses his one and only childhood.

Death is a very important theme, because delivering death messages is what made Homer mature. For example, Homer told his mother All of a sudden I feel different not like I ever felt before. (Pg. 33) Delivering telegram message changed everything for Homer because he was no longer a child. Furthermore, delivering death telegrams made Homer sick. At the age of fourteen, when Homer had to deliver death messages, this made him realize that one day he is going to die himself. At the end when Homer realizes his brother s death, Homer said, What s a man supposed to do? I don t know who to hate. I don t know what to do. (Pg. 186) This showed being a teenager moreover a man, did not solve the problem about death. He learned death is life because he had to go through the death of his brother. Going through hard times in life made Homer a mature man.

Supporting his family and going through his brother s death made Homer a mature person. After facing the many challenges, Homer became mature. Homer took on a responsibility that was very hard during that time. Homer accomplished two main things supporting his family and becoming a fourteen year old man.