Sharon Olds Rite of PassageFor whom is the birthday party a rite of passage, the birthday boy or his mother? In the poem “Rite of Passage” by Sharon Olds, the speaker, who is a mother, goes into detail about her son's birthday party. Let’s start by analyzing the title of the poem, “Rite of Passage.” The Encyclopedia Britannica describes a rite of passage as a ceremonial event, existing in all historically known societies, which marks the transition from one social or religious status to another. Given the poem's plot about a young boy inviting his peers to celebrate his birthday, one might automatically be compelled to say that the rite of passage is for him, but with a closer analysis of the poem in its entirety, one can argue of the title. and the plot has a deeper meaning. The first indication that this party is as much for her, the birthday boy's mother, as it is for her son appears in the first line of the poem when she says: "...guests arriving at my son's party", rather than saying his name, she refers to it as hers throughout the poem. This gives off a very possessive tone in her presentation of how she describes the play-by-play action of her son's birthday party. Another example to support the fact that she is celebrating her rite of passage can also be seen in the first line when she refers to the people arriving at the party as "guests". His son is six years old, and n...... middle of paper...... I know some students in the class took this sentence literally, as in the fact that they were going to murder the two year old, but they just used 80s terminology and meant that they could all beat up a two year old, which showed them all something they had in common. From being small but significant and a key asset to horse racing, as a jockey, to being rich and admired. , as a banker, they have since graduated to the most coveted and decorated profession, that of “generals”. The speaker now considers her son an army general because he took over the reins of her party and brought all the six and seven year olds to play.