On Wings of Song belongs to an important literary tradition: the bildungsroman. Notable members of the tradition are Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Bronte and David Copperfield (1849) by Charles Dickens. A bildungsroman depicts the education of someone from childhood to adulthood and is usually autobiographical in many of its major elements. Of the great bildungsromans in English, The Way of All Flesh (1903) by Samuel Butler most closely resembles On Wings of Song. The two books resemble one another in tone and structure. The protagonist of The Way of All Flesh is oppressed by his family and society; both make demands on him that run counter to his sensitive nature.

He rebels against the demands made on him and suffers through moral and intellectual debasement. The tone of The Way of All Flesh is satirical, and the story is incisive and merciless in its treatment of its characters...