M. C. Higgins, the Great
by Virginia Hamilton
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At a glance:
- Author: Virginia Hamilton
- First Published: 1974
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: 1970’s
- Setting: Cumberland Mountains, near Harenton, Ohio
- Characters: Mayo Cornelius (M. C.) Higgins, Banina Higgins, Jones Higgins, Ben Killburn
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Bildungsroman, Children's literature, Novel
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, 1970's, Family or family life, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Nature, Friendship, Midwest, Ohio, Home, Mines, miners, or mining, Mountain life
- Locales: United States, Ohio, Cumberland Mountains, Harenton, OH, North America
The Novel
In M. C. Higgins, the Great, the title character, a tall, athletic, thoughtful black teenager who lives in the Cumberland Mountains, must come to terms with conflicting allegiances, to his father and the traditions of his family, on one hand, and to his mother and the younger children in the family, on the other. Faced with a threat to the family that is beyond his control, M. C. learns that being an adult means doing one’s limited best in an imperfect world.
Although M. C. Higgins, the Great moves chronologically, the author also moves...
(The entire page is 2591 words.)
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