RITE OF PASSAGE POEM ANALYSIS

RITE of PASSAGE

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.

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

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

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

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

like Generals, they relax and get down to

playing war, celebrating my son's life.

As the guests arrive at my son's party

they gather in the living room--

short men, men in first grade

Referring to the guests as men conveys their high opinions of themselves and their shared belief that as first graders they have joined the world of adulthood.

with smooth jaws and chins.

Line exposes a stark contrast between the images that the boys hold of themselves and their vulnerability, indicated by the imagery of soft smooth skin

Hands in pockets, they stand around

jostling, jockeying for place, small fights

breaking out and calming

This description portrays the boys as almost animalistic, stripped of humanity and interested only in self-preservation.

One says to another

How old are you? Six. I’m seven. So?

Very defiant dialogue; the boys hyperbolize their own self-assumed strength and masculinity in order to intimidate their peers and make up for their own vulnerability.

They eye each other, seeing themselves

tiny in the other’s pupils.

Again, the boys ironically consider and purport themselves as adults, while at the same time looking down on their peers as young and weak and failing to realize the similarity between their ages and the ridiculousness of their claims.

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

by referring to the boys as their ages and thus reducing them to numbers, the narrator dehumanizes them and emphasizes their primitive nature

the dark cake, round and heavy as aturret, behind them on the table. My son

freckles like specks of nutmeg on his cheeks,

freckles symbolic of innocence, nutmeg carries connotations of delusion

chest narrow as the balsa keel of a model boat, long hands

cool and thin as the day they guided himout of me, speaks up as a host

emphasizes the relationship between

the narrator and his son, as well as the youth

of the boy in question

Speaks up for the sake of the group. We could easily kill a two-year-old, he says in his clear voice.

Dramatic change in tone; the boys’ actions and arguments before were unsettling but childish, but this statement really catches the reader’s attention. The irony of the boys' logic and the horrific nature of their musings emphasizes their learned bloodlust.

the other

men agree, they clear their throats

like Generals, they relax and get down to

playing war, celebrating my son’s life.

Warl-like imagery in the final few lines creates

further dramatic irony: their innocence, combined with a desire to mimic the adults in their lives, have caused them to turn violence and slaughter into a game that they cannot truly understand.

Society's tendency to pressure children to grow up as soon as possible creates a deadly mix when combined with children's natural tendency to imitate adult behavior and their lack of understanding of true violence and its consquences.

a position usually associated with men attempting

to purport their masculinity

child-like, vulnerable imagery

warlike imagery – the turret is reminiscent of battlefield, whether taken in a more medieval sense (the battle towers projecting from a castle) or in a modern sense (the rotating armored structure on a tank or the dome projecting from an aircraft containing one or more guns and a gun crew).

SUMMARY:

Stacie Chiang & Cyndi Koster