rite of passage
the word choice makes us this that the kids are all trying to act like men imagery kids think that age matter, it’s important to them italics has the effect of not slowing down poem - read it at the same pace as the rest of the poem kids are very serious and scrutinizing each other bankers - a “grown-up” job older boys feel like they are powerful over younger boys motherly tone “boys will be boys” makes her son look like a innocent little boy but ironically, he is more mature than the other boys the kid is trying to settle things down by finding equal ground, mediator superiority poem is quite dark because killing is mentioned very casually general - a “grown-up” job role models to the boys when they realize they can all beat up a two-year-old, they stop being competitive because they feel superior reminiscent of how men glorify war and violence don’t really understand that war brings death, instead they play it to celebrate and have fun they don’t understand the concept of killing irony
Rite of Passage Sharon 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 themselves 10 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 a 15 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 him 20 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 throats 25 like Generals, they relax and get down to playing war, celebrating my son's life.