"The bildungsroman is the coming-of-age novel; it is also the coming-to-terms novel. The protagonist, usually a young man, undergoes a series of adventures that eventually spit him out wiser, stronger, set up for life's journey."
"Imagine, for a moment, a different kind of coming-of-age novel. Say that a human life is a metaphysical experiment—though one that, by and large, refuses to think of itself as such."
"Most of us dodge and deny this fundamental experiment, which suggests that life, metaphysically speaking, is not ordained or designed but arbitrary—that it is, in fact, ordained to be arbitrary."
The bildungsroman genre typically features a protagonist who matures through life experiences, often embracing societal norms. However, a different perspective suggests a coming-of-age story could explore life as a metaphysical experiment, questioning existence's meaning and the arbitrary nature of life. This approach challenges the traditional narrative that accepts the world as it is, instead prompting a deeper inquiry into the significance of life and the potential futility of existence, diverging from the typical bourgeois focus on societal viability.
Read at The New Yorker
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