How is the Jungle Book a coming of age story?

Mowgli becomes a young man as the book progresses, and the reader watches him grow from an impulsive and earnest man-cub into a leader. Like most adolescents, he believes he is not allowed to do as much as he wants to do, but readers see him grow out of that phase and learn patience and the importance of knowledge from his elders. It is also interesting to note that as he and Gray Brother are leaving the village, Mowgli notices a young woman walking towards them and seems captivated by her (not to mention his strange feelings for Messua), a sure indication he is becoming a man and beginning a new stage in his life. Mowgli’s coming of age is universal in that it mirrors all young people’s move from one stage of life to another, but it also possesses a melancholic singularity in that he will never be completely part of the world of man due to his upbringing and his knowledge of the jungle.