In M.C. Higgins, the Great, friendship isn't an easy thing because it brings outside influences to the Higgins family. For this reason, friends are a constant source of conflict for M.C. Higgins, our main guy—and an important part of his coming of age process. Throw Lurhetta Outlaw into the mix, and friendship gets even more complicated. What's a mountain boy to do with a non-violent, worldly young woman comes into the woods? Though M.C. definitely doesn't nail this encounter, it's another incident of friendship impacting his growing up in important ways.
Questions About Friendship
- Who should M.C. be most loyal to—Jones or Ben?
- Is M.C. and Ben's friendship as imbalanced when it comes to power as M.C. thinks it is? Does it need to be in order to work?
- How does Lurhetta Outlaw impact the friendship between M.C. and Ben?
- How do Ben and M.C. benefit from each other?
Chew on This
M.C. thinks that he's the cool and capable one in his friendship with Ben, but really it's the other way around.
The most important thing friendship does in this book is expose M.C. to different ideas.