Into the world describes a concept of growth and development which an individual will engage themselves in. It is a movement from one stage of life to another. Through out this transition, the individual may face obstacles and barrier which they must overcome to continue their pathway into the world. The notion of into the world is clearly depicted in the novel “the story of tom Brennan”, jc burke, the novel, looking for alibrandi, and the film little miss sunshine through various themes, film and language techniques.

Living in fear is not living at all. Tom, the main character in ‘the story of tom Brennan’ is met with an immediate sense of fear when he arrives at the site of his brother’s drunken car crash. Tom tells the reader of his ‘frantic’ movements and the sense of being lost not knowing what to do with the time. Burke’s use of writing from Tom’s perspective gives the reader an insight into his inner feels throughout the novel, how he overcomes his challenges and continues on his journey into the world.

Fin adds to Tom’s fear mumbling, ‘I can’t feel nothing’. This sends Tom into a deeper sense of not knowing what to do, and realising his cousin may be paralysed. Tom’s fear then changes, forms into the fear of the unknown. Not knowing what people of Coghill know about his family’s past eats him up inside. He tells Brendon, “That was the thing that terrified me”.

By over-coming the fears, the individual is set free, to move on with life. Tom is initially terrified when his sister Kylie tells Coghill High about their past. Unbeknownst to him, this revelation would help him learn the people of Coghill don’t judge him, they accept him for who he is and the amazing rugby player he is.

Alienating yourself from society and your family is a major barrier. Tess, Tom’s mother, is an emotional and physiological mess. She is so broken by her son being in gaol that she completely withdraws herself from society and even more, her own family. Similarly in Little Miss Sunshine, Dwyane takes a vow of silence against the whole world, shown through his bold writing of” I HATE EVERYONE”. It is not until he discovers he is colour blind and is therefore unable to fly airplanes that he overs his self imposed alienation and moves into the world. Again, similarly in TSOTB, until Tess breaks free of her self imposed alienation, by cooking a simple meal for her children, she remained alienated. The prepared food acts symbolically for a new chapter in her life, cooking her first meal after the accident.

Similarly in Looking for Alibrandi, the main protagonist Josie experiences self challenges which prevent her from moving into the world. Her life changes

through relationships with her father and Nonna, and also her perspectives and acceptance of culture. The novel starts on a national Italian day. Josie is embarrassed by her culture and does not wish to participate. Her attitudes to this world are negative. Josie’s family are used as a pathway in which lead josie to a new phase of life. Marchetta uses Josie perspective to enable the reader to follow Josie through her development. She becomes ‘Proud to be an Andretti’. The new family relationship gives Josie more confidence and she enjoys changes that are happening in her life.

Friendship helps overcome challenges. Brendan, Tom’s uncle, tells Tom to “drop the uncle bit”, which creates a closer friendship between them both. Tom goes running with Brendon which acts as a catalyst for Tom to become fit and get back in shape for rugby. Planning a trip to Nepal also “lifts [tom’s] spirits”. Tom finds Chrissie and falls in love with her towards the end of the novel. After a romantic session, he then tells the reader, “that morning tom brennen was back, forever”, which indicates that he has overcome all challenges and has moved into the world.