Elemental Metamorphoses : Nature and Coming of Age in Margaret Mahy's The Changeover and The Tricksters

Sammanfattning

This paper analyzes the utilization of nature and the elements as parallels to the development and coming of age of the two young female protagonists of Margaret Mahy’s novels The Changeover and The Tricksters. Using an ecocritical approach, this paper examines the manner in which Mahy portrays nature as well as the human-made environment as ensouled and equipped with agency, with the primary focus placed on the way this affects the two main characters, Laura and Harry and the change they go through as they become young women. By examining the way in which Mahy presents the natural elements in connection to the development of Laura and Harry, the study demonstrates how she views and depicts the natural world and everything in it as different parts of the same organism.