rite of passage poetry analysis
DESCRIPTION
Rite of Passage Poetry AnalysisTRANSCRIPT
Rite of PassageSharon Olds
As the guests arrive at my son's party they gather in the living room-- short men, men in first grade with smooth jaws and chins.5 Hands in pockets, they stand around jostling, jockeying for place, small fights breaking out and calming. One says to another How old are you? Six. I'm seven. So? They eye each other, seeing themselves10 tiny in the other's pupils. They clear their throats a lot, a room of small bankers, they fold their arms and frown. I could beat you up, a seven says to a six, the dark cake, round and heavy as a15 turret, behind them on the table. My son, freckles like specks of nutmeg on his cheeks, chest narrow as the balsa keel of a model boat, long hands cool and thin as the day they guided him20 out of me, speaks up as a host for the sake of the group. We could easily kill a two-year-old, he says in his clear voice. The other men agree, they clear their throats25 like Generals, they relax and get down to playing war, celebrating my son's life.
kids are very serious and scrutinizing each other
motherly tone“boys will be boys”
older boys feel like they are powerful over younger boys
imagery
general - a “grown-up” job
poem is quite dark because killing is mentioned very casually
italics has the effect of not slowing down poem - read it at the same pace as the rest of the poem
they don’t understand the concept of killing
irony
bankers - a “grown-up” job
role models to the boys
kids think that age matter, it’s important to them
reminiscent of how men glorify war and violence
the word choice makes us this that the kids are all trying to act like men
when they realize they can all beat up a two-year-old, they stop being competitive because they feel superior
the kid is trying to settle things down by finding equal ground, mediator
don’t really understand that war brings death, instead they play it to celebrate and have fun
superiority
makes her son look like a innocent little boy but ironically, he is more mature than the other boys
rite of passage