Rites Of Passage By Sharon Olds Summary

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Power “Rites of Passage,” a poem by Sharon Olds, displays the awkwardness between a group of first grade boys who attend a birthday party for the son of the narrator. For the duration of the poem, each boy keeps a watchful eye on the other as he—particularly the older boy—attempts to intimidate the younger boy in an effort to prove that he holds authority over him due to their one year age difference. What is intended to be a joyous occasion, swiftly transforms into a tension filled evening. “Rites of Passage” is comparable to the board game Monopoly. For instance, the game of Monopoly can promote small disagreements between the players. Furthermore, each player’s intension is to become the leader of the board the same way that each boy wants to become leader of the group. …show more content…

“Hands in pockets, they stand around / jostling, jockeying for place, small fights / breaking out and calming.” (lines 5-7). Each boy is jockeying for place in order to find a spot that is maybe closer to the birthday cake or just because of the simple fact that he feels as though he is bigger and better than the others therefore he should be the one who is upfront which causes small fights to take place between them. Just like these young boys, each player in Monopoly wants to be the one who is ahead of the others. There is always that one player who travels around the board and purchases every piece of property that is high in value leaving the smaller pieces of property for the other players which initiates arguments and ill feelings between the

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