How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph) or (Chapter.Line)
Quote #1
[Mowgli] grew and grew strong as a boy must grow who does not know that he is learning any lessons, and who has nothing in the world to think of except things to eat. (1.70)
Coming of age is a gradual process of learning, and it's not like you're a man-cub one day then—boom—a man the next.
Quote #2
"Now I know thou art a man, and a man's cub no longer. The Jungle is shut indeed to thee henceforward. Let them fall, Mowgli. They are only tears." (1.139)
Real men do cry. Part of Mowgli's journey to becoming a man means leaving his wolf family behind. This would have happened whether or not he was a man because eventually a young wolf must leave the den, no matter the circumstance.
Quote #3
Mowgli, as a man-cub, had to learn a good deal more than this. (3.1)
Being from both worlds, human and animal, Mowgli kind of has to come of age in both. In the jungle, he must learn to survive on his own, and as a man, he must learn to take care of himself and others, which is different than just basic survival.