Youth and Sexuality

     In many of my recent readings I have found that a reoccurring theme is found in expressing ones youth and sexuality. This theme is commonly expressed through the use and symbolism of light. I have seen it specifically in three of our readings. One was my summer reading that we were allowed to choose from the list, one was Winesburg, Ohio other was in one of our short stories. Over the Summer I read the novel Everything is Illuminated and I found this theme present. Jonathan Safran Foer describes the people in the Ukrainian villages as there being a physical glow when people are in love or sexually attracted to one another. The gypsy girl in the novel is a symbol of youth and sexuality and is often described as glowing or shinning personality. (Also the book is title Everything is Illuminated. Illumination again furthering the use of light to get across a theme of sexuality and youth.) In Winesburg, Ohio the there is a light inside the old writer or rather a youth or a pregnant woman. This is what keeps him alive. Sexuality and youth must thrive to keep one alive. Pregnant women are also often described as having a glow. The fact that they are described this way and that they are pregnant (brining the sexuality aspect) further evidences the use of light and its connotations to get across this theme. In one of the short stories, specifically, “Where are you gong, Where have you been?” light is used again to elude to Connie’s sexuality and transitioning out of childhood and in to womanhood. This is evidenced by Connie at the end of the story, exiting her house and walking in to the sunlight where Arnold Friend awaits her. It shows Connie Embracing her womanhood and awakening the sexuality with in her that accompanies this womanhood. She consciously enters the sunlight expressing her sexuality. Because Arnold Friend is the one waiting in the sunlight this even further evidences the theme. He is older and Connie is this youth that he is preying on and in many cases thriving on. It is what keeps him going parallel to the Old writer in Winesburg, Ohio that is also kept alive by the youth. The conclusion I have come to is that youth and sexuality are commonly used as a tool to tie generations of characters together. Whether it be what keeps them alive in their older years (the writer and Arnold Friend) or it be them embracing it for the first time (like Brod and Connie). Sexuality and youth is both an important and quite common theme through out literature.