Rite of Passage
By Sharon Olds
As the guests arrive at our 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 midnight 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.
Summary of Rite of Passage
- Popularity of “Rite of Passage”: “Rite of Passage” by Sharon Olds, an American teacher, creative writing tutor, and poet, is an interesting poetic piece about a ritual. The poem first appeared in her collection Strike Sparks published in 2004. The beauty of the poetic output lies in presenting the world of children as if they are adults behaving in a wayward manner to show their strength and power to each other.
- “Rite of Passage” As a Representative of Children’s World: The poem opens with the title having a pun on “rite.” The poet presents the birthday party of her son and the arrival of his friends. She paints a beautiful picture of the gathering of the boys of six or seven years old, behaving as if they are living in the world of adults. They jostle, jockey, push and nudge each other. They converse with each other about their age, their manners, and their situation. How they stand, feel, move and talk becomes a matter of great interest for the poet that she has presented as if they are going to fight like the adults do in battles, posing themselves generals and fighters, with one of them asserting that they could kill a younger one. Although it is just a celebration of her son’s birthday, playing a war seems to have a metaphorical significance in our lives.
- Major Themes in “Rite of Passage”: Importance of celebrations, mixing of children, and behaving in a belligerent manner are three important themes of this poem. The poem presents the birthday party of her son, saying that he invited all of his friends who are almost his age. This becomes a party for them to mix with each other and learn how to live and share things. However, what comes out is their belligerent behavior as if they are fighting a war leading their respective armies as generals.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used In “Rite of Passage”
literary devices make poetic products beautiful, meaningful, and enigmatic. Sharon Olds has also used some literary devices in this poem whose analysis is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /a/ in “Hands in pockets, they stand around” the sound of /e/ in “They eye each other, seeing themselves” and the sound of /o/ in “model boat, long hands.”
- Alliteration: The poem shows the use of alliteration in the shape of initial consonant sounds of the neighboring words such as the sound of /h/ in “he holds” and the sound of /j/ in “jostling, jockeying.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /t/ and /th/ in “turret behind them on the table” and the sound of /l/ and /b/ in “chest narrow as the balsa keel of a / model boat, long hands.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
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.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Sharon Olds has used imagery in this poem such as “Hands in pockets, they stand”, “They fold their arms and frown. I could beat you” and “the midnight cake, round and heavy as / turret behind them on the table.”
- Metaphor: The title of the poem is an extended metaphor. Some other metaphors are generals and bankers used for children. Their jostling and jockeying are also metaphors for battle.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of symbols fights such as speaking, jostling, nudging, and pushing.
- Simile: The poem shows the use of similes such as; Freckles like specks and Chest as narrow as the balsa keel
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Rite of Passage”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: The poem shows beautiful yet colloquial diction. The tone is serious, though, it becomes ironic by the end.
- Free Verse: The poem does not follow any rhyme scheme. Therefore, it is a free verse poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. The poem is a single stanza with 26 verses.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “Rite of Passage” are appropriate to quote when talking about the behavior of the children.
As the guests arrive at our son’s party
they gather in the living room—
short men, men in first grade
with smooth jaws and chins.
