E&P, Feed, and The Youth Lens

I am going to apply the Youth Lens to the books we have read, Eleanor & Park and Feed. I think that there are lots of examples of the Youth Lens within these two books. According to the Youth Lens, “…the single story [of adolescence] is one of raging hormones, rebelliousness, and defiance of authority.” At one point in E&P, Park goes over to Eleanor’s house to drop off a comic book. When Eleanor comes inside, her cruel step-father, Richie, noticed Park. Richie asked Eleanor who Park was and then went on to say, “I know what you’re up to, nothing but a bitch in heat,” (67). I think this portrays the part of the youth lens in which adolescence is stereotyped as an age of raging hormones. Seeing a boy come over to the house, Richie rudely generalizes that she is in “heat” with raging hormones and is looking for a guy.

In Feed, by M.T. Anderson, we see another part of the Youth Lens. The Youth Lens points out the many qualities adults often stereotype for all adolescents. The Youth Lens talks how adolescents are often seen as having raging hormones, defying authority, and just being wild. In a way, Feed kind of plays up to all of these. Feed shows Titus and all of his friends going “mal” often. This is supposed to be similar to getting drunk or high in today’s world. This shows how the Youth Lens will portray youth as sometimes making poor choices and taking risks. The Youth Lens also explains how adolescents are seen as sexual beings. In Feed, Titus wonders in the beginning whether or not two of his friends have been hooking up, and in the end Violet even wants to make moves on Titus until he resists and gets upset with her. Overall, it was interesting to read about how adolescents are portrayed by adults in young adult novels, and other books, and fun to see how it related to the books we have read.