One’s maturity can be affected by many aspects throughout one’s life. Events may occur to influence how a person acts or mentally thinks. It is also possible that an atmosphere, or childhood can shape a person to be who they are. Although it has been scientifically tested and proven that males are significantly less mature than females are, this is not always the case. Some males have been shown to become mature at a young age due to various factors that have molded them into a mature young boy. One may also think that grown adults are mostly all mature, but this is not the case either. An adult can be immature due to his or her physical gender or even how they were brought up as a child. In the novel Something Wicked This Way Comes written by Ray Bradbury, and in various modern sources, the authors explore how maturity can differ between different people and why this occurs.

In Bradbury’s novel, Jim Nightshade is a very immature young boy which can be further explain by modern sources. A reasoning behind this can potentially be his physical gender and his actions in the past with no severe consequences. Jim constantly goes around doing as he pleases throughout the novel without thinking before his actions. This is clearly shown when Jim has the option to make sure his home does not catch fire when lightning strikes it by being given a lightning rod. He replies with “‘No... why spoil the fun?’” (Bradbury 15). This quote shows that Jim would rather take a risk of ruining his home and putting his family in danger just to not “spoil the fun” (Bradbury 15). Jim reasoning behind being characterized as such an immature boy can be explained with his actions with no consequences. Throughout the whole beginning of the book Jim is always running free and doing his own thing. He does things just to simply do them, and not for a reason. His immaturity can also be affected by his gender. It has been brought up in many articles that males are less mature than females. In the article ““Can Maturity Indicators Be Used to Estimate Chronological Age in Children?” written by Noel Cameron, it reads “Two chronological years separates these boys and girls, with the boys reaching comparable levels of maturity significantly later than the girls” (Cameron 301). This excerpt can prove the reasoning behind Jim’s immaturity, which is his gender. He possibly cannot help but do immature actions because that is how he was developed as a young child.

On the other hand, Will in Bradbury’s novel is characterized as a mature young boy. A reason for Will’s maturity can be explained by his surroundings. He grows up in a very stable home with a knowledgeable father and mature mother. His mother is always talking to him in an adult tone, and not a childish one. She does not treat him lower than her and acts as if he is an adult. His father also works at a library is always reading books around Will. His home atmosphere is described as “there sat his father...holding a book...in a chair by the fire his mother knitted and hummed” (Bradbury 38). This influence around Will could have possibly shaped him into being mature himself. Him acting as an adult can also be looked about in modern day sources as well. In the article "The Loss of Childhood Innocence” written by Ellen Wilson Fielding it states “It's hard not to conclude that in many spheres the young are being forced to pay the price of adult "freedoms” (Fielding 41). This article talks about how young children are treated as adults, and how this can shape them into further acting like them. If they have “adult freedoms” their surrounding peers are going to treat them as that since that is what they have been exposed to (Fielding 41). Will is surrounded, treated with, and performs adult mannerisms so eventually he became as if he were a mature adult himself.

Mr. Halloway’s immaturity through the novel can be elucidated through various modern sources written today. His immaturity is prominent in the book starting in the beginning throughout the very end. He is constantly talking about how the “The boy I {he} once was, thought Halloway, who runs like the leaves down the sidewalk autumn nights” (Bradbury 39). He also references his childhood multiple time in the novel, bringing up how it was such a great time for him. Thus causes him to become mentally stuck in the past and not able to accept the fact that he is an adult now. Charles also wishes that he could do the childish things that Will and Jim do, such as run free and play outside with each other. He longs for youth, and is jovial once he is able to embrace all the activities brought upon by the carnival. This longing of once being young again is brought up in the article “Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, Or Self-Involved Parents” written by Melissa Wuske. She states that “While many of these adults’ function well, the remnants of their childhood follow them” (Wuske 96). This relates to Mr. Halloway since his childhood clearly follows him throughout his everyday life up until he is a fifty-year-old father. This can cause him to become the immature character that he is because his childhood lurks about him and is always there for him to think about.

Overall, everyone has a different maturity level for a different reason. People may think that an adult’s maturity level is higher than a child’s- but that is not always the case. Events and one’s surroundings can alter who they ultimately become and how they act. As in the novel, Jim and Will were the same age but had completely different levels. Jim was less mature since he had not been exposed to the kind of atmosphere Will is exposed to on a daily basis. Thus, being exposed to certain things can affect one’s maturity. Other factors that can contribute to this can be gender as explained in the modern sources. Everything depends on who you are as a person, and nothing is simply set in stone for a gender or age. Maturity is something that can be unpredictable.

Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray, and Michael Dirda. Something Wicked This Way Comes. London: Gollancz,  2015. Print.

Cameron, Noël. "Can Maturity Indicators Be Used to Estimate Chronological Age in  Children?" Annals of Human Biology 42.4 (2015): 300-305. Academic Search Premier.  Web. 17 Jan. 2017.
Fielding, Ellen Wilson. "The Loss of Childhood Innocence." Human Life Review 39.3 (2013):  39-47. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.
Wuske, Melissa. "Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant,  Rejecting, Or Self-Involved Parents." Foreword Reviews 18.4 (2015): 96. Literary  Reference Center. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.