Themes and message

Female adolescence

The theme of female adolescence is explored throughout the story “I Dare You” by Eileen Merriman. The author highlights several issues faced by teenage girls in particular and by adolescents in general.

From the beginning of the story, the author introduces us to the idea of competition among friends. Jane is searching for her identity – this is indicated by her statement: “Being fifteen sucked – not quite a kid, but not quite a woman either.” (ll. 7-8). Furthermore, she is at an age when she compares herself with her peers – in the story, she compares herself to her friend Carrie, and sees herself as plain-looking and less confident than her. She is jealous of Carrie’s looks and suggests that Carrie is more popular because she is beautiful (ll. 10-11). This touches on the subject of young women feeling pressured to look a certain way to gain acceptance and admiration.

Both girls also want to appear more mature than they are - an attitude which is also typically encountered in adolescents. However, they are childlike and naïve in many ways – they play on the swings, they trust a strange man who enjoys spending time with girls much younger than himself, and they ignore the further revelations that prove he is a dangerous man (he stea...