The purport of the present aeon YA(Young Adult) genre of literature is a struggle with self-definition.
In Hogwarts Harry Potter's House was Gryffindor but he exuded Slytherin traits. Tris Prior belonged to the Abnegation Faction but joined Dauntless being divergent. Mia Hall struggled continuing to live in If I Stay clouded about her identity without family. The children in A Series of Unfortunate Events discovered that their unique proclivities were tools with which to navigate their lives. Artemis Fowl resolved that you don't have to be evil. Clary Fray in the Mortal Instruments Series realized that she wasn't who she thought she was. Katniss Everdeen was from District 12 in Panem in the Hunger Games. But she sparked a revolution not only in deed but in blurring of lines demarcating district members. #4 and his companions grow with disparate powers etching their identities in the Lorien Legacies Series. Jonas struggles in a futuristic society that has forged sameness in The Giver.
These stories may be contra-distinct but they share a common theme; struggle for self-definition. This struggle is appropriate for young adults. Their physical maturation is concomitantly accompanied with spiritual, emotional, and intellectual blossoming.
As adults we should be beyond that life-stage. We should be aware of our identities, strengths and weaknesses. However, that is not always the case. Rabbi Chaim Voloziner, Nefesh HaChaim(1:6), writes that since the first infraction was committed our malevolent inclination is internalized no longer a distinct entity exterior to our being. Rather, it's interwoven with our essence manifesting geminated qualities of our own ourselves . Therefore, occasionally we identify with our lusts, desires, selfish thoughts, hatreds, and beliefs. We declare ubiquitously, "This is who I am and can't change".
Repentance, the process of return to G-d, is meant to extricate us from these fallacious thoughts. One pervading theme in Leviticus is repentance. The animal offerings are supposed kindle feelings of self-sacrifice as explained by the Nachmanides(Commentary Ibid 1:9). The day of inauguration of the Tabernacle was designed to procure atonement for the sin of the Golden Calf(Rashi ibid 9:2). The leprosy-like spiritual decease called Tzaras is meant to encourage us to to repent as codified by Maimonides( Mishnah Torah, Hilchos Tumas Tzaras 16:10). The Yom Kippur Temple Service coupled with repentance is meant to achieve atonement as well(Talmud,Tractate Yoma 86a).
One of the ways to embark upon the path of repentance is to study. Because when we study classic works of Jewish ethics such as The Path of the Just, The Way of God, The Gates of Repentance, The Duties of the Heart, and The Ethics of Our Fathers, we are engendered toward introspection and self analysis. This gives the opportunity to weed out the imperfections in our psyches that don't define who we are.
This sort of change can only be accomplished with our own personal efforts. The Talmud, Tractate Avoda Zara (16a), tells us a story of a Elazar Ben Durdia who was deeply stooped in the netherworld of licentious behavior. He was inspired by a carelessly vicious comment by a harlot, no less, to repent. At first his quest to find his way was recruitment of others to help him. In the end he concluded that, "the matter depends only on me".
Perhaps this is what Robert Frost meant in Stopping By The Woods On a Snowy Evening, "And miles to go before I sleep". Before his life concludes he has to traverse miles of self introspection and repentance to sprout his identity to fruition.
