Literary Devices In Sharon Olds My Son The Man

In Sharon Olds’, My Son the Man, Olds uses the literary device of allusions to illustrate the inevitability of her son growing old by comparing his aging to Houdini, the doubted magician who was able to makes his way out of any restraint. This is evident in lines 1-3 when she writes, “Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider, the way Houdini would expand his body while people were putting him in chains” (Olds). Since the son is now becoming a man, she compares him to Houdini expanding himself to illustrate the fact that he is growing and able to get out of those chains; in this case, to leave the mother. The allusion strengthens the poem by referencing a man who people doubted which gives the reader a sense of the son’s motives and characteristics.

He is challenging his mother for his freedom while growing up, like Houdini did with the people in during his stunts. In addition, the mother also says, “Now he looks at me like the way Houdini studied a box to learn the way out, then smiled and let himself manacled” (Olds 14-16). Once again, she is taking notice that he sees her as an easy setback to overcome in the long run. He looks at her and smiles, revealing that he knows he will win and be free from her in the end.