Coming of Age

Alex ages only a few weeks over the course of the story, but he matures a great deal, making the coming of age theme important in this story. Early in the story, Alex becomes very angry when his father tells him that he has to spend a few weeks with Kate. He says that he is fifteen and argues that his age means his father should have consulted him rather than making decisions for him. While some of Alex's action's can be put down to his worry about his mother, it seems that he is really childish and self-absorbed in many ways. One of his objections to staying with Kate is that Kate doesn't cook. It's more likely that Kate doesn't indulge Alex's picky appetite. When they arrive in the Amazon, Kate doesn't provide anything special for Alex to eat. When the crew eats monkey or...