Coming of Age

Many critics have seen "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" as the story of Robin's passage from child to adult. Robin's journey follows the conventional pattern: he travels from his home to a distant land, where he meets strange people and has exciting adventures. Each encounter leaves him a little wiser than he was before. By the end of the story he has learned enough to survive on his own, or, in the words of the kind gentleman, to "rise in the world without the help of [his] kinsman, Major Molineux." Robin himself is not aware of his growth and development, but the gentleman is sure of it. The story, then, opens with the ferryman's view of Robin, as a rough and unready youth, and ends with the gentleman's view of Robin as a "shrewd youth."

Order and Disorder

The biggest problem facing Robin is that he cannot...