Does Age Bring Wisdom?
by Campbell Sharpe
I was looking at my bookshelf the other day and noticed that the majority of my protagonists were under the age of 25. For many stories, young main characters are necessary. They are fallible and naive. They are more likely to react poorly to aggression and create plots with which readers want to engage. Essentially, they are walking problems. Sometimes, though, I worry this creates an idea that adults have no issues; they are complete. As if the moment you hit thirty, your life is predictable and uninteresting. We all know this is not true.
Age brings experience, but not everyone knows how to harness their maturity productively, and some situations are more difficult than others. Young protagonists often have to deal with the awkward burgeoning of new love, while older characters must grapple with the changes children bring to romance or searching for love after being hurt. These challenges require different skills. Someone who has gone throught the motions of new love still develop emotionally while in a marriage. People are able to change throughout their lives. Change, in whatever form, is interesting to read. Therefore, no one should age out of being a protagonist.
Maturity does not guarantee wisdom and wisdom does not guarantee a quaint, uninteresting life. I am tired of teenagers making the same choices, making the same mistakes. I want protagonists who have done this before, who have learned from their past, who deal with mature challenges. I want characters to choose the more complicated option. At Cozy Cat, we boast shelves full of experienced protagonists. In the condensed time frame of a mystery, when the clock is ticking and the clues are disappearing, sleuths need all the wisdom they can get. Older characters know more things. They have seen mysteries play out in the media or have already solved a few themselves. No offense to Nancy Drew, but a teenager cannot process information and connect clues as efficiently as adults. While some may think a younger character leads to a more dynamic book, when it comes to mysteries, more experienced detectives are able to solve the most intriguing cases.
Life does not stop when you graduate college. Mysteries do not circumvent grown characters. There is nothing saying that adult life is unworthy of a novel. And you know what? When it comes to mystery novels, I’d take Poirot over the Hardy Boys any day.
What do you think? Does age bring wisdom?