ENGL 244 4/10/2009 How I Learned to Drive One of the main themes of the play is the idea of growing up. The play goes back and forth between the present and past, which helps reveal Lil' Bit through her stages of development. She is mature for her age, and uses her maturity in a domineering sense over Peck. In the beginning of scene I she says, "It's 1969. And I am very old, very cynical of the world, and I know it all. In short, I am seventeen years old" (1586). Lil' Bit feels a sense of power with Uncle Peck. Unlike her family, he pays attention to her and understands her vulnerability. He feels empowered to give up alcohol, while she values the attention. When she is in her late twenties, Lil’ Bit manipulates a high schooler to have sex with her. This act is meant to recreate the sensation of having power over someone younger like Peck felt. This play demonstrates the dynamics of a relationship founded entirely on sexual desire. Uncle Peck’s perverted obsession with Lil’ Bit ends up killing him. As she matures, she gradually is able to see how wrong their relationship was. Only when she is actually mature, in her mid-thirties, does she realize the full extent. She says, “Now that I’m old enough, there are some questions I would have liked to have asked him. Who did it to you, Uncle Peck? How old were you?” (1605). She finally realizes that Uncle Peck was simply reliving the disturbing experiences he had growing up. He was a victim of incest, and attempts to escape the pain through Lil’ Bit.