Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Book Reports Maestro Maestro Maestro shows us that maturity is gained only through suffering. Discuss. Peter Goldsworthy’s Maestro focuses on the coming of age of Paul Crabbe, who slowly leaves his childhood innocence behind to enter the new world of adulthood. His pathway to maturity is described through a series of experiences, particularly with an old Viennese music teacher, Eduard Keller, or the ‘Maestro’. Near the end of the novel, where Paul is in his mid-twenties, he looks back on his transformation from a spoiled, self-indulged adolescent, to a more compassionate and more knowledgeable adult. He realises, through his own suffering and Keller’s influence, that his talents are not good enough to earn him a career as a concert pianist. Paul’s personality changes throughout the text. At the start Paul is corrupted by pride and the idea that he is great, almost perfect even. This self-satisfaction does wonders to boost his ego, as he predicts instant fame and fortune will fall at his feet. When he first meets Keller, he acts as if he knows everything, but Keller mocks him constantly with such comments as, “you know so much for your age…and so little”, and won’t give in to his superficial ideals. Paul does not appreciate it when the old man honestly points out his true arrogant nature, but eventually awakens to his truth. With truth comes suffering, and suffering does play an integral part to Paul’s maturity. For years, Keller has been trying to teach Paul not to expect too much. He offers words of insight and once asks him, “what is the difference between good and great pianists?”. He answers himself with, “Not much, just a little”. Obviously that ‘little’ is just enough to make Paul fall short of his dreams – he misses that final step that would take him to the top, simply because of his pride. In the end he fails to achieve musical success. But it doesn’t come that quickly. His first contact with failure is with his rock band ‘Rough Stuff’, in which they have the potential to win a band competition in Adelaide, but they don’t. And yet again, when he dedicates some of his time in 1974 to travelling around the world from piano competition to piano competition, his efforts prove futile, and the most he can achieve is an ‘honourable mention’. He blames others – the critics, judges, competitors – and even Keller for not encouraging him enough. In Paul’s eyes, Keller probably insulted him more than he did inspire, so he uses him as a scapegoat for all his problems. But he does learn from him in the long run, perhaps in a more in a subconscious way. Keller taught him ‘life lessons’, which was derived from his own life, plagued with suffering. Paul becomes fascinated with his past, and later discovers through Henisch how hard a life he led after the death of his wife and child. Keller blamed himself for losing them, because like Paul, he also had too much pride, and thought nothing would harm the family of the man ‘who played for Hitler’. He was so hurt by his own arrogance that he wanted to kill himself. However, Keller survives. His suffering remains in him and caused him to withdraw from society, but he gives himself a chance to get back on the road to recovery. Despite feelings of regret and bitterness, he learns to open up again, and even love Paul like a son. He is rewarded just before his death, with the knowledge that Paul loves him back. And so Keller too, grows and matures through suffering. However, maturity is gained through various other ways and not only by suffering alone. One of them is the presence of Paul’s role models. He has respectable parents and a remarkable teacher. Though he treats both with contempt at various points, he does take from them the appropriate values, which shapes him as a person. He learns to be committed and determined and towards the end, more understanding and caring. Even having fallen in love with Rosie at a young age teaches him to give and accept love, and to share responsibility. Another way to maturity is knowledge. Keller had already somewhat matured after his experience with the Nazi’s, but he doesn’t display it in himself in the most positive way. Instead he teaches it to Paul, who learns that life is not simple, but complicated. After all, even though some of the greatest composers in the world were Germans, they also committed some of the worst crimes against humanity, and he learns to accepts that such paradoxes exist in life. Maestro may seem like ‘a tale of two sufferings’ on the outside, but it really explores the experiences we have to deal with to ensure personal growth and the attainment of self-knowledge through discovery. One of the things Paul seems to learn in the end is that there is tragedy, but there is also cause for celebration. Although the journey to self-knowledge is far more complicated than that, it shows us a definite link between suffering and maturity, and that we can overcome our youthful mistakes and arrogance by reflecting back on our experiences. Bibliography: NONE Word Count: 865
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