How does Maria's changing attitude emphasize the theme of the short story? Use details from the text to support your answer.

growing up by Gary soto

One of the most important themes of the story is that there is no need to grow up so quickly. Maria feels the need to grow up quickly, as she feels that she is too old to enjoy the things that she enjoyed before. This is particularly true when it comes to family vacations. At the beginning of the story, Maria feels she is too grown up to go on holidays with her family. She is not emotionally mature to understand that there is no need for her to be so grown up right away, and that spending time with her family is not a sign of immaturity, but only a sign of love. However, her changing attitude emphasizes the theme of the story. As the story progresses, Maria changes her attitude. Towards the end she realizes that although she is growing up, the break with her family does not have to be so complete.

Maria doesn't want to go to Disneyland because she thinks she is too grown up to go on family vacation. Her father forces her to go but after an argument with him, her parents let her stay. She wants to apologize with her father. Then when she stays home she feels good and she goes out with her friend when she learns that a family has an accident on the highway, she starts to worry about them and feels guilty. At the end nothing happens and her family returns home. She realizes that she is growing up.