Creative imagery as well as similes and metaphors about the young boys at a first grade birthday party intertwine in Sharon Old’s poem “Rites of Passage”. These poetic devices create a dark social commentary, from the perspective of a mother, on boys adopting a violent masculinity during early childhood. In addition to the poetic devices in the poem, the point of view and cultural influences are important in creating the theme. The setting is unique because the birthday party is one of the few unstructured times of a young boy’s life when he is also surrounded by his male peers. This sets the scenario for peer pressure on the boys to act and follow the violent masculinity.

The social commentary on violent masculinity is centered on the observations of the narrator, the mother, of the birthday boy. In understanding the poem, it is important to consider her bias. She becomes shockingly aware that her son has adopted the violent masculinity, which she observes the other boys to have. Her relationship and investment in her son makes the story more tragic since there is a personal sadness and loss from the son’s masculine

declaration. The intimacy between the son and the mother contributes largely to the poem’s negative and violent commentary on masculinity in young boys.

The first evidence of an unnatural masculinity in the boys at the party is the mother’s physical description of the boys, “they gather in the living room-/short men, men in first grade/ with smooth jaws and chins (2-4). This first description uses unique imagery to describe the crowd of young boys waiting for the party to begin. The mother has turned them into men, seemingly waiting around for some sort of business function to begin. She uses an interesting contradiction however in her imagery by clarifying that they are in fact children only in first grade. The two descriptions of the guests juxtapose to give an image of little boys standing around in play clothes with serious faces and stiff backs, in contrast to, the normally animated child image one associates with boys at a birthday party.

One other important part of her description is she does not refer to the guests as boys or even children; instead there is an immediate jump to “men”. This choice of words sets an interesting tone for the party. In removing the fun and child qualities of the boys right away, the mother has shown one of the negative aspects of masculinity. This negative aspect is the boys feel as though they must act like men with stiff faces in the presence of other boys, and act as though they have business to attend to with one another at the party, instead of childhood enjoyment. This also shows the peer-pressure present at the party to follow and act older. The tone and atmosphere of the party is very tense, a mood usually associated with grown men meeting to discuss business or money.

There is a reoccurring imagery of the boys acting and seeming much older than they are. The mother notices the competition occurring amongst the boys as they wait for the party to begin. She describes, “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”(10-13). In this quote she has furthered their stature as men to bankers and as such given the boys a cold, hardened feeling one associates with bank executives. The imagery is an important part of the negative masculinity, which the mother observes the boys to have. In this imagery, they are threatening violence in order to “prove” their manhood. This behavior seems to be a mimicking of a cultural image the boys have on how to be a “man”. This imagery builds upon the previous observatio

Some topics in this essay:
Sharon Old’s, Passage” Creative, violent masculinity, masculinity boys, Negative Masculinity, Professor Steadman, Bosy English, mother’s descriptions, birthday party, playing war, peer pressure, cool thin day, thin day guided, adopted violent masculinity, guests boys children, guests boys, son makes, cool thin, thin day, boy narrow chest,