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Teen Angst: A Literary Analysis

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The pieces I chose to analyse were the film ‘Over the Garden Wall’, directed by Nate Cash and ‘More than just the Disease’, written by Bernard MacLaverty. These two pieces explore the topic of Teen Angst in varying ways. Cash and MacLaverty both establish their core theme as teenage anxiety throughout their texts and their protagonist’s actions. In ‘Over the Garden Wall’, Wirt is the older brother of Greg. Wirt is the protagonist of the film and is a pessimistic realist who is easily scared; Greg on the other hand is an overly energetic young boy who is always seen to be unconcerned in the face of danger and always remaining positive, if not oblivious, throughout the film. The brothers meet a very irritable bluebird named Beatrice along their quest to escape the ‘unknown forest’ by travelling across the land to find the woman Adelaide, who can undo the curse and show the brothers the way home. In ‘More than just the Disease’, Neil, the protagonist is a boy who is afflicted with psoriasis and overcome with insecurities because of this. He lacks …show more content…

This was explained in the final episode where it is revealed that Wirt and Greg leaped out of the way of an oncoming train, but fell down a steep hill into a lake, knocking them both unconscious. Wirt and Greg both face challenges that symbolise internal conflicts in Wirt’s mind, such as in chapter 6 where Wirt, Greg, Beatrice and Greg’s pet frog are forced to disguise themselves as a member of the ferry’s band. In order to avoid being caught, Beatrice encourages Wirt to play the bassoon while Greg’s pet frog breaks out into glorious song. This performance ends up blowing their cover, however, the audience (of frogs) are so moved by their performance that they allow them to stay on board. This series of events taught Wirt not to be so ashamed of who he is and allowed him to express himself

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