A Teenage Adult?

Throughout the 2003 novel The Namesake, author Jhumpa Lahiri uses a third-person omniscient narrator to continually describe Gogol Ganguli’s internal conflict with his coming of age and the acceptance of his true identity. With age comes independence, and Gogol finds plenty of freedom from his parents after his eighteenth birthday, when he can legally change his name. At this time, the narrator notes, “now that he’s Nikhil it’s easier to ignore his parents” (105). Lahiri uses Gogol’s age to indirectly characterize him as free and self-sufficient, while also indirectly characterizing him as immature for not having the ability to appreciate his family. This juxtaposition got me thinking: when do people become adults? This past weekend I turned eighteen, an age in which the United States identifies people as adults. However, at the age of eighteen, you are still a teenager. An adult teenager? The phrase is an oxymoron in itself, for teenagers are stereotyped as reckless and rebellious, while adults hold the title of ultimate maturity. This unusual juxtaposition can be seen as Gogol grows up and goes to college because it is his personal belief that he is mature, but ultimately, he is still a teenager. So when do we become adults? Can it be justified by just an age? But even the age that legally constitutes a person as an adult still characterizes them as a teenager. Why is this? Personally, I believe that adulthood comes with responsibility. Having dependence on people and needing assistance from people does not make you an independent adult. Therefore, it seems to me that adulthood cannot be defined by an age, but by the time when we can fully function by ourselves, and take on the challenges of the world without having to turn to others. Ultimately, the idea of a teenage adult seems quite ridiculous, but in reality carries a bit of sense. It can act as an in-between stage, a chance to explore the realms of adulthood while still safely tethered to the amenities of adolescents.