Essay 'Rites Of Passage' By Sharon Olds

956 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Creative writing of war

Several boys believe that they are capable of handling on their own without any guidance from their parents. In "Rites of Passage" by Sharon Olds, the son is celebrating his birthday with his friends through the perspective of warfare. In "Boys" by Jim Tilley, the speaker is portraying the life of a war through their premature games with his neighbors. Both poems establish the reality of transition of reality from boys to men by creating warfare imagery that contradict the trait of a man and a child. Olds and Tilley demonstrate that boys want to prove themselves that they want to take care of themselves. Because of that, they switch between imagination and reality. The two poems emphasize the boys’ childhoods through their interest in playing war, and show their immaturity in trying to be proud and aggressive. However, their naivety is holding them back
However, with war imagination, boys are creating their boundaries rather than moving on. For example, in “Rites of Passage”, the speaker noticed that the son and his friends had become “like Generals, they relax and get down to/playing war” (Olds 24-25). This explains that even though they are young, they act mature without overcoming their wrestling game which prevents them from growing up. Similarly, boys believe they are capable of becoming generals. For example, in “Boys” while they played dangerous war game, the speaker and his friends imagined themselves, “We were the generals – we ran the war” (Tilley 5). This demonstrates that their imagination enthusiasm them to become General along with their war game. Because of that, they are unable to stop their game and move on to develop their mature men. This poem emphasizes that as long as they develop their war imagination and interest of war, boys will not be able to grow up. They will have to advance their ego from their juvenile to realize that their war imagination is impossible to become a mature

Show More
Related

  • Rites Of Passage By Billy Collins: The Rites Of Passage

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    We all experience a rite of passage in our lives, whether it be the time we learned to swim or perhaps the day we received our driver’s license. A rite of passage marks an important stage in someone’s life, and one often times comes with a lesson learned. Three selections that provide fine examples of rites of passage that individuals confront include “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” by W.D. Wetherell, “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins” and “First Lesson” by Philip Booth.

    Read More

  • Semiotic Codes and Adolescent Transition in 'A Separate Peace'

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses semiotic codes to express an adolescent’s transition into adulthood in a time of conflict and war. Barthes writes, “Ideological imperatives express themselves through a multiplicity of codes which ‘invade’ the text in the form of key signifiers. Each of these signifiers represents a digression outside of the text to an established body of knowledge which it connotes; each one functions as an abbreviated version of the entire system (code) of which it is a part,” (Semiotics, 31). These semiotic codes are often looked at as social enigmas that relate to the rules and ideologies developed by the culture of the time period, in this case at Devon Prep School in New Hampshire in 1942-43 during World War II. Codes are where semiotics, cultural values, and social structures mesh. The ideals and challenges of war parallel the friendship between the two main characters, Gene and Finny, and particularly relate to Gene’s obsession with competition and envy of his best friend and enemy. These codes impose ideological imperatives that translate from Gene and Finny’s friendship to the larger picture; they connote the loss of innocence and transformation into adulthood, and ultimately define the dominant values of the time period’s culture, as well as the overall meaning of Knowles’ text. Through the use

    Read More

  • Hroors of War

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ome aspect of war, from battling with enemies to how battle spiritually destroys young men. The one positive point of this novel is how friends cared for one another when going through tragedies and stressful experiences. It also portrays how strong a soldier needs to be, in order for them to be in the war.

    Read More

  • Essay On All Quiet On The Western Front And Of The Horrors Of War

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    This relates to Of the Horrors of War as Duggan mentions the “mistrust and enmity for centuries to last…[,] where mistrust and hatred is rife” and how disbelief is seen throughout all warfare (Duggan). Both of these works portrays how suspicion and uncertainty is an abundance when it comes to warfare. Another connection between these two pieces of literature is the pursuit of revenge for those who have wronged. Remarque describes how the soldiers “seized the bed-cover, made a quick leap [towards Himmelstoss], threw it over his head from behind and pulled it round him so that he stood there in a white sack unable to raise his arms” and impotent to move (Remarque 48). Himmelstoss, the leader of the band of brothers, has been cruel to the boys and, even though these men are all aiming towards the same goal, revenge will always still be present. Draftees are “those who for their sense of revenge extreme violence pursue” and aim to seek vengeance and violators (Duggan). Although all fighters desire for the same objective, the idea of revenge will always be present due to the mindset of being seen as the

    Read More

  • A Separate Peace, By John Knowles

    1556 Words  | 4 Pages

    Knowles uses the idea of war to show the sudden maturity and growing up to adulthood for the high school aged boys that are enrolled

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Who's For The Game And Dulce Et Decorum Est

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    Owen uses strong imagery such as similes to portray this. Owen shows the realistic vulnerability of soldiers “bent double, like old beggars under sacks” (Line 1), vividly conveying the fact that soldiers become so weary and injured that they no longer have the ability to be aware of their surroundings and thus are incredibly vulnerable to attack, their surroundings and sickness. This is further supported by paradox, used in “men march(ing) asleep” (Line 5). This shows the pure exhaustion that soldiers awake are now no better off than if they were asleep and unaware. In ‘Who’s for the Game?” this idea is contradicted through metaphors. Pope uses an extended metaphor of games to create an energetic appeal to war. War is depicted as men eagerly “toe(ing) the line for the signal to ‘Go!’” (Line 5). This creates the image in the audience minds that there will always be a sense of alertness and excited anticipation during even the hard days that is differing to Owen’s perspective that war is exhausting and breeds

    Read More

  • Parent and Son Relationship in one of Nye, Naomi Shihab´s Poems

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a typical family, there are parents that expected to hear things when their teenager is rebelling against them: slamming the door, shouting at each other, and protests on what they could do or what they should not do. Their little baby is growing up, testing their wings of adulthood; they are not the small child that wanted their mommy to read a book to them or to kiss their hurts away and most probably, they are thinking that anything that their parents told them are certainly could not be right. The poem talks about a conflict between the author and her son when he was in his adolescence. In the first stanza, a misunderstanding about a math problem turns into a family argument that shows the classic rift between the generation of the parent and the teenager. Despite the misunderstandings between the parent and child, there is a loving bond between them. The imagery, contrasting tones, connotative diction, and symbolism in the poem reflect these two sides of the relationship.

    Read More

  • Comparing War in the Poems, Dulce et Decorum est and Who’s for the Game?

    1537 Words  | 4 Pages

    Also it is comparing the war to a game, which is a euphemism as well as a metaphor. It is a euphemism because war is a very serious, dangerous matter; whereas a game is something that people enjoy and never get seriously injured in. By using this euphemism, Jessie Pope - the poet – lessens the severity of war, and makes her readers’ think of it as enjoyable, and something that they want to do.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner Rites Of Passage Analysis

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    Breaking down the film, The Kite Runner, there was an imperative and huge significance of the kite and the pomegranate tree which I will explain using John Beattie's hypothesis of instrumental and expressive action. I will likewise explain how Amir's life changes after some time using Arnald Van Gannep’s theory about the rites of passage and argue that the key message of the film was about loyalty, betrayal and redemption Another situation that I will discuss is the manner by which Sohrab's traumatic occasions have influenced him using Harvey Whitehouse's hypothesis on how religiosity and how its in view of two distinct types of memory, imagistic and doctrinal.

    Read More

  • Loss of Innocence in Rite of Passage by Sharon Olds

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    Loss of Innocence in Rite of Passage by Sharon Olds A rite of passage is defined as a ceremony marking a significant transition or an important event or achievement, both regarded as having great meaning in the lives of individuals. In Sharon Olds' moving poem "Rite of Passage", these definitions are illustrated in the lives of a mother and her seven-year-old son. The seriousness and significance of these events are represented in the author's tone, which undergoes many of its own changes as the poem progresses. From its title, the tone of the poem is already set as serious, and we know there will be a significant event taking place in someone's life. As earlier stated, a rite of passage is an important ceremony or a life-changing event.

    Read More

  • Zonnebeke Road By Sylvia Plath

    1348 Words  | 3 Pages

    After these first three lines though the tone suddenly changes and the reader becomes aware that this poem is actually about the coldness and real brutality of war, not glorified for the benefit of the reader like so many of the war poems written, for example "Soldiers Bathing" by F. T. Prince. In this poem the poet sets the scene with a calm and tranquil sea and uses religion as an excuse for war; he is proud to be at war and persuades himself he is there for the right reasons.

    Read More

  • Comparing My Papa's Waltz And Rites Of Passages

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the poem “Rites of Passage” the author, Sharon Olds, describes her son’s seventh birthday party, and how the entire time the boys were trying to be super manly and wanted to one up each other by wanting to fight each other. She explains how they want to keep beating each other up or how they wanted to fight by saying,” they gather in a little group just to agree with each other that they could easily

    Read More

  • Representation Of War In The Iliad Analysis

    1614 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...wn us a less tidy affair, involving many conflicting needs and many more possibilities of dissent. Overall, one thing remains clear, whether in The Iliad or in other depictions of war through the times, it is the young that are sent to the battlefield, either to gain glory or to die, thus, as Herbert Hoover once said: “Old men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die.” The Iliad is no different, as it clearly shows us that war is waged by those that can physically fight it, that show the bravery and masculine love for the affair and that have something to gain (or lose) from it. The Iliad thus, becomes perhaps, one of the greatest depictions of how war is fought and why it is fought, and the pathos it brings to all it touches. If we still read it 2,500 years or so, after it was written, it must conjure powerful feelings with which we still identify.

    Read More

  • Dulce Et Decorum Est Attitude

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    These similes start the poem off by putting the image of age and decrepitude in the reader’s mind, instead of the youth and vigor that one would expect from soldiers that are most likely in their late teens and early twenties. The next few lines continue on in this vein. “Trudge” (4), “marched asleep” (5), “limped on” (6), “All went lame; all blind” (6), “drunk with fatigue” (7) and “deaf” (7) are all words and phrases that further the impression of men who are beaten down and broken. They are not portrayed as the conquering victors the country they serve wants to see them as. In fact, they are so numbed by their experiences, the thing they are deaf to is “gas-shells dropping softly behind” (8), which sets up the next

    Read More

  • Grief In War Essay

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, after reading the poem over again, I was lead to grief. I believe the point of view, which is the parents of the soldiers is the key factor on why the central idea for “War” is about grief. In “War”, the father that lost his child, explains to the other parents that their children at their current age are doing their duty and for their love of their nation. Yet, once he comes to terms with the passing of his son, he grieves by sobbing uncontrollably. The following quote supports the central idea, after the woman on the train asks if his son is really dead the man reacts “His face contracted, became horribly distorted, then he snatched in haste a handkerchief from his pocket and, to the amazement of everyone, broke into harrowing, heart-breaking, uncontrollable sobs”.

    Read More

More about Essay 'Rites Of Passage' By Sharon Olds

Open Document