Rite of Passage

The poem illustrates the violence, aggression, and dominance pervasive in men’s lives from a very early age and onward, a culture they are initiated into as boys as a rite of passage. The aggression of the boys is prevalent throughout the entire poem, beginning with the skirmishes as they stand around, and carried through the way they measure each other up and compare ages: “I could beat you / up, a seven says to a six” (Lines 12-13). While the mother regards her son as more gentle and soft, with his nutmeg-freckled cheeks, “balsa” (Line 17) wood chest, and “cool and thin” (Line 19) hands, his statement about killing a two-year-old provides a startling contrast, suggesting that even the boys who may be more naturally inclined to nonviolence will begin to demonstrate aggressive behaviors in order to measure up and not appear weak.

This competition for dominance, to at the very least not come last in the pecking order (and the speaker’s son clearly relegates the two-year-old to this position), can exhibit itself merely as childish in-fighting and harmless “jockeying for place” (Line 6), but it can also serve as a root for broader societal issues like violence, war, and destruction.