Why is mustache spelled wrong in the title?
The Moustache by Robert Cormier is about a young teen who wants to become more mature so he grows a mustache. He goes to visit his grandmother and on his way he envisions himself going really fast but decides against it as he thinks that wouldn’t be mature. His grandmother was very happy to see him since she thinks that he is her husband as he also had a mustache. The grandmother was hallucinating which helped her think that Mike was her husband also named Mike. After he visits her he realizes that he didn’t want to be mature, but the ironic thing is, is that in realizing that he didn’t want to become more mature he became more mature.
In the beginning Mike wanted to grow up and stop being a teenager. He wanted to become mature as soon as possible. In example he wanted to go really fast in the car but doesn’t as he thinks that mature people would do that. He visits his grandmother who is hallucinating and he he plays along with it for a bit before trying to tell her who he is and eventually just leaving. He leaves the building realizing that he didn’t want to grow up.
During the car ride home he goes really fast as he wanted to do in the beginning of the story. He also played loud rock music to listen to something. Mike in realizing that he shouldn’t want to grow up and he wanted to stay a teenager, ironically he actually became more mature. In a kind of last ditch attempt I guess to try to stay a teen he shaves his mustache which made him look and feel a bit more mature.
In conclusion after going to visit his hallucinating grandmother he decided to shave his mustache and try to stay a kid a bit longer. The mustache showed that he wanted to grow up and become mature much faster than he should’ve and once he shaves it off the story shows that he realizes this fact of wanting to stay young a bit longer. But sadly, in the end, by realizing that he wants to stay a teen and shaving off his mustache he actually becomes more mature than he was before.