Rite Of Passage Poem Analysis

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At first glance, the poem, Rites of Passage, by Sharon Olds, seems to be about celebrating a young boy’s life. However, the poem progresses to become a more disturbing view on how a mother deals with the loss of her son’s innocence and a young boy’s disturbing future. Using irony, this author depicts innocent children, and shows sinister roles that they have the potential to fulfill. The first example we see of this, as readers, is when the birthday cake is compared to a turret, “the dark cake, round and heavy as a turret, behind them on the table”, suggesting possible involvement in wartime activities. Usually a birthday cake is an iconic image of celebration. It is associated with memorable, happy events people have experienced together. In this part of the poem, however, the cake is now made to be something that reminds you of war and pain. This is emphasized when the cake is referred to as heavy. Something that is normally sweet and innocent is turned into something dark and threatening. Later in the poem,…show more content…
In the poem, the boys are all together in the same room talking to one another. “How old are you? Six. I’m seven. So? They eye each other, seeing themselves tiny in the other’s pupils.” This way of speaking makes it seem as if the young boys are not very friendly toward each other and not accepting as little boys should be, adding to the dark mood. They use phrases like “ I could beat you up”, which does not seem at all playful. At the end of the poem the son says “We could easily kill a two-year-old” This is meant to bring the group together. However to the reader it can be interpreted as mean and cruel. If a young boy said this, one would think they did not know what they were saying. However, given the rest of the poem, it is unclear whether or not the son really knows what he is
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