Aug 11, 2015  Those Who Remain is a post-apocalyptic young adult novel where we get to meet the two sisters Mallory and McKayla. They are trying to survive in a world where most of humanity has been wiped out by what they call the Stricken.

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideasexplored in a literary work.

War’s Transformation of Boys into Men

When Johnny Tremain begins, the protagonistis a fourteen-year-old boy. The novel ends less than two years later,and Johnny Tremain is a sixteen-year-old man. His rapid maturationis largely a function of the extreme political climate of his time.As a messenger and spy for the colonial rebel leaders, Johnny isthrust into life-and-death circumstances. To protect himself andthose he works for, he must abandon many of the childish proclivitiesof his past. Working as a small-time spy, he is forced to developinto a trustworthy, patient young man, since he might have to listencarefully to hours of conversation just to glean a small tidbitof information. He must also learn to restrain his quick temperand impetuousness to survive during the turbulent and dangerousRevolutionary period. Most dramatically, Johnny is forced to focuson something larger than his own individual concerns. Because ofthe war, Johnny must fight and die for the independence of his fellowcolonists, and he turns his fervor and passions outward. He leavesbehind his callow selfishness and becomes a steadfast, patrioticman, eager to fight and die for his country.

The preternatural maturity demanded of boys in timesof war is also clearly exhibited in the character of Rab. When Johnnyfirst encounters Rab, the sixteen-year-old boy is already a man:he is self-possessed, fearless, and ready to die for his beliefs.Rab seems almost unbelievably precocious. His advanced development becomesconceivable only when we realize that he has been involved in thesecretive revolutionary effort for years already. Like Johnny andmany other children of wartime, Rab is unable to indulge in the vicesand luxuries of childhood.

Forbes wrote Johnny Tremain during WorldWar II, just after Pearl Harbor was attacked. She noticed how youngmen are forced to grow up quickly in times of war, as they are suddenlyresponsible for the fate of their country and their fellow men,not just for their own goals and ambitions. Forbes fashioned theyouths of her Revolutionary War novel on her observations of theyoung soldiers fighting in World War II. Johnny Tremain, like theyoung men in World War II, could not control the circumstances inwhich fate placed him. Instead, he was forced to find his innercourage and become a self-assured adult.

The Revolution as a Coming of Age

Johnny Tremain is a double coming-of-agestory. It is not only the tale of Johnny’s journey into adulthood,but also the story of the colonies’ maturation into a nation. Whenwe first meet Johnny, he chooses his battles very poorly. Rash andproud, he lashes out at anyone whom he thinks treats him with disrespect.Johnny, however, does not respect anyone else. He constantly tormentshis fellow apprentice Dove, and makes an enemy of a boy eager tobe Johnny’s friend. He becomes an enemy of the Baltimore silversmithMr. Tweedie after he hurls an unprovoked barrage of outrageous insults athim. By extension, Johnny also angers Mrs. Lapham by placing herpartnership with Tweedie in jeopardy. Finally, and most dangerously,Johnny unleashes his fury and outrage on Jonathan Lyte, one of therichest and most powerful men in Boston. Each of these thoughtlessacts of anger eventually comes back to haunt Johnny. His poor relationshipwith Dove leads to his crippling accident, his provocation of Lyteleads to criminal prosecution, and the ill will that Mr. Tweedieand Mrs. Lapham bear him very nearly gets him hung on the gallows.

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As Johnny befriends the Whigs of Boston, he undergoesmany transformations. One of these transformations is a sheddingof his truculent nature. Under Rab’s tutelage, Johnny learns tocontrol his outrage at petty offenses. Johnny does not suppresshis fervor, as the pious pacifist Mr. Lapham would have preferred.Rather, Johnny redirects his passion into a worthy cause. Insteadof petty and personal outrage, Johnny begins to feel a deep andmeaningful commitment to a battle worth fighting for—a battle forfreedom and for the equality of all men.

Johnny’s cause is ultimately the colonies’ cause, asthe colonial rebels eventually choose to fight for the rights andfreedom of men. Like Johnny, though, the colonists evolve from fightingpetty skirmishes to a revolution for independence. After nearlya decade of boycotts and other minor insurrections, the rebel leadersfinally conceive the compelling reasons for a war against Britain.Their ideology crystallizes, and the leaders make it clear thattheir cause is a fight for the equality of all mankind, rather thana small-minded fight for their own pocketbooks. With an understandingof their new ideology, and a grasp of the scale of their fight,they realize that boycotts and other minor rebellions are not thebest means for their ends. The colonists realize that they mustfocus their efforts and fight a war for only one thing: independence.Once the colonists realize what is worth fighting for, they beginthe process of maturing into a country.