Haiti

Not yet ten and I've got an intro. Take that, English.

The plots Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon and Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit both hinge around a young man’s embattled transformation into an adult. The heroes, Milkman Dead and Henry Reyna, initially are unable to cope with the drastic situations their stories entail. However, enduring hardship helps both to mature and in the end Milkman and Henry become men — rational, reasonable, responsible adults whose actions meet the expectations of their respective peers. An integral aspect of this manhood is the achievement of a new national identity that melds past with present, their predecessors with themselves. By underscoring the importance of such an identity, Morrison and Valdez imply that one is essential to true adulthood.