Red Sky At Morning: Stepping Into Adulthood Essay -- essays research

Red Sky At Morning by Richard Bradford, is a coming of age novel that illustrates the maturing of a young man. In the summer of 1944, Frank Arnold, a wealthy shipbuilder in Mobile, Alabama, receives his volunteer commission in the U.S. Navy. He moves his wife, Ann, and seventeen-year-old son, Josh, to the family's summer home in the village of Corazon Sagrado, high in the New Mexico mountains. Mrs. Arnold finds it impossible to cope with the quality of life in the largely Hispanic village. Josh, more the son of his father than his mother, becomes an integral member of the Sagrado community, forging friendships with classmates at Helen De Crispin school, with the town's resident artist, with Chango Lopez--macho bully turned model student--and with Amadeo and Excilda Montoya, the couple hired by his father to care for their house. Josh narrates the story of his fateful year in Sagrado and reveals the events and people who influence his progress to maturity. Josh matures throughout the book into a young man who learns the understanding of change, responsibility, and duty. Josh stays strong through the changes he goes through and it helps him mature into the man he becomes. When his family moves to Sagrado he makes new friends and adapts well to the new environment he is put into. Josh stays open-minded when making friends at school. He gets to know many different kings of people. Unlike his mother he doesn’t judge people by where they live or their racial background. His mothe...