My Friend Flicka

A bildungsroman, German for “novel of education,” is a coming-of-age story about a young person who matures and grows throughout the course of the text. Classic examples of bildungsroman novels include The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J. D. Salinger and To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) by Harper Lee. These stories are narrated by a young person who struggles to understand the society around them, then learns about both themselves and the world through their journey and maturation. Often, the protagonist’s journey is one of disenchantment: With their maturity comes an acknowledgment of the difficult truths of the world. While the end result often varies, the protagonist often changes themselves, adapts to the world, or fights against their new worldview.

The typical bildungsroman structure begins with a young protagonist who faces a conflict with the world that they find themselves in. Due to a character flaw, immaturity, or issue with society itself, they are forced to change themselves or change the world around them as they progress to adulthood. For example, in David Copperfield (1850) by Charles Dickens, the protagonist, David, experiences a variety of hardships from a young age including poverty, an abusive stepfather, and forced labor in a factory. While many of these hardships come from the society David finds himself in, he ultimately finds his place in that society, emphasizing the importance of perseverance, hard work, and individual determinism.

In a contemporary example, Angie Thomas’s 2017 novel The Hate U Give tells the story of Starr Carter. She faces a conflict between her mostly Black, impoverished neighborhood and the predominately white private school she attends. After her friend is shot and killed by the police, she is forced to acknowledge police brutality and ultimately advocate against it, choosing to step out of her comfortable life to address broader social issues through her maturation. Like most bildungsroman novels, these two stories emphasize a conflict between the young protagonists and the broader society around them. They subsequently acknowledge these issues, find ways to address them, and ultimately adapt through growth and maturity to find their place.

In My Friend Flicka, Ken faces a similar conflict as he struggles to fit into life on the ranch. He is characterized by his lack of focus, irresponsibility, and issues connecting with his father. While Ken is aloof and imaginative, life on the ranch requires hard work and focus, characteristics which his father, McLaughlin, embodies. While Ken is able to grow and mature when he dedicates himself to raising Flicka, he also changes his father’s perspective and, ultimately, the culture of the ranch. Like other classic bildungsroman protagonists, Ken ends the novel more mature and aware of the society around him, ultimately finding his place within his family and the ranch.