Growing up is an interesting experience.

Everyone has their ups and downs that can cause

them to mature. In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza and her friends and family go
through her own troubles and tough times. In The Maze Runner, Thomas also has many
struggles living in the Glade. Both characters matured because of these events. Sometimes,
negative experiences like living in poverty, going through traumatic experiences, and facing
discrimination push people to grow up and mature.

Living in poverty pushes people to grow up faster. Esperanza lived in a very poor
neighborhood. So, she had to work, “saying that she was one year older” than she really was
(Cisneros 54). She was very young and already working, just to help support her family,
something a lot of people don’t do until they’re older. But she had to, for the money. Similarly,
Thomas lived in the Glade, which had no currency at all, and only got limited supplies “once a
week” (Dashner 42). It was a lot like living in poverty. They had to do many things for
themselves, just like an adult would, even though the majority of the boys there were just
teenagers. They had to grow up and do things for themselves.

Going through traumatic experiences cause people to quickly mature. Esperanza and Sally
were playing in a place called the monkey garden, but a group of boys still Sally’s keys and tried
to make her kiss them to get them back. When Esperanza ran to get one of the boys’ mom, she
simply said “those kids” (Cisneros 97). Esperanza was embarrassed and mad, so much so that
she, for a moment, tried to scare they boys away with a stick. They told her to go away, and she
did, despite knowing what was happening was wrong. She knew it was wrong because of her
maturity. In a much different situation, Thomas was trapped in the maze, being chased by
Grievers with Minho. But of the two, it was Minho who had “broken down and panicked”
(Dashners 119). Thomas had to mature quickly to save himself from the Maze, something a
veteran, Minho, couldn’t even do. He had to quickly mature and get smarter to even survive.
They both had to grow up to help themselves.

Facing discrimination means growing a lot faster than others who don’t. In their neighborhood
and lives, many girls who lived in Sally’s neighborhood got married very early in their lives. Sally
herself did that, except when she did, she couldn’t do much, because her husband was in
control and “she is afraid to go outside without his permission” (Cisneros 102). Esperanza hears
about this and decides she wants “a house all her own” (Cisneros 108). She doesn’t want it to
be her dad’s house, or her husband’s house, but her own house. She knows she will only face
more discrimination with that, so she chooses her own path. Thomas faces his own
discrimination as everyone around him in the Glade thought that he was part of the problem with
the Glade. Gally even threatened him, saying “I swear on my life I’m gonna stop you. Kill you if I
have to” (Dashner 163). Thomas was under constant pressure by those who suspected him,
even though he had done nothing wrong. He had to learn to watch himself and work with
everyone against him. Both Thomas and Esperanza had grow up to fight their discrimination.
 Living in poverty, going through traumatic experiences, and facing discrimination all cause
people to grow up. They all pose their own problems and troubles, but they are all negative
experiences. Sometimes, you need the negative for the positive outcomes.