Research Paper on:
Belonging and Adolescence in The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

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outspoken, rough around the edges tomboyish Southern protagonist of Carson McCullers The Member of the Wedding (1946). She is "twelve and five-sixths years old" (617) and the age of  thirteen seems to her to be very far away. Frankies best friend moved away and her classmates appear to have reached the ever elusive age of thirteen sooner than  she. These budding young ladies have further distanced themselves from her by joining a club in which Frankie has been refused as a member because of her boisterous (and  decidedly unladylike) personality. Frankie is clearly at a crossroads in her life - that insecure place between childhood and adulthood, and it is through her eyes that the author  allows readers to see the trials and tribulations of World War II adolescence. For Frankie, the answer to all of her adolescent angst is to find somewhere to belong.  She finds the perfect solution when her brother, Jarvis, arrives in town from Alaska just long enough to announce his engagement to Janice. The wedding was supposed to take  place the following week in the neighboring town of Winter Hill; from there the couple and then Jarvis will join the Army. Frankie becomes convinced she will find her  way by accompanying Jarvis and Janice to places unknown and live the adventurous life of a globetrotting traveler, who belongs everywhere because the world is her home. She explains,  "Ive been ready to leave this town so long... I wish I had a hundred dollars and could just light out and never see this town again" (604). This  sleepy Southern town has defined who she is, but Frankie Addams wants to establish an identity for herself. Before she can do that, though, she needs to feel less