Throughout history, humanity’s selfishness and greed has often led to conflicts over material things. However, despite the negative traits such as spite and envy that this will undoubtedly bring out in people, in the end people always strive for the highest ideals they can manage. In Ellen Foster, through the use of bildungsroman, the quest, and stream of consciousness, Kaye Gibbons illustrates the highest ideals that we as people share, developing the theme of our shared humanity.

Using bildungsroman, Kaye Gibbons shows that people will eventually grow up, and once fully matured, will strive to help others, whether out of altruism or pity. Ellen starts off as an angry little girl locked in an abusive household with a sick mother and a father