This shows that however reluctant he may be, growth is inevitable. The fence that gave way to an embankment planted with orange trees showed how once he is ready to move on the next phase of his life, he would be faced with bigger obstacles.
The process of building a lantern and chasing after insects shows the search for one's identity. On paragraph 3, a comparison is made between the child who gets to buy a ready-made lantern and a child who cannot afford one and therefore builds one himself. The one who bought the lantern from a store shows that the child gets what he wants and that everything comes easy for him. Therefore, his character is not as tested because everything is spoon-fed to him. While the other one has a stronger character because he must strive for what he wants. The children's making of lanterns shows the forging of character. Children are easily influenced by other people's traits and personality especially if they are always with the other person or the person is older. This is shown when more and more children appeared on the spot where the child found an insect. They tend to imitate other people. It also shows continuous growth. "Then these wise child-artists, cutting out round, three-cornered red and green, made a single and whole decorative pattern." The sentence shows how the children start experimenting with different characters. It also shows that although we have a basic core of identity, there are still variations of different characteristics within us. Aside from that, it also shows competitiveness. At different points in our life, we also come into realization that we haven't really found our true identity. As a result, we want our character to change for the better. This was illustrated when the child discarded his red lantern or when a lantern is thrown away because the design was too simple. Criticizing the lanterns is also a way to adhere to a certain identity because we already have a perception of what identity we should have.
