The essay “Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space”, by Brent Staples, shares many similarities with the poem “Rite of Passage”, by Sharon Olds, about the connotations of how violent men appear to be. By using gender theory analysis to compare and contrast both pieces a fuller image of how men are generally viewed can be seen. While in the poem, “Rite of Passage” violence is seen as an aspect of how man are, in “Just walk on by” it can clearly be seen that violence is a stigma that follows certain men. Violence is an aspect that is seen in many men, however not all men are violent; an examination of both pieces helps in illustrating this point. In the essay “Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space” both race and gender play a large
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The way the boys are describe are analogous to young men at war. The speaker of the poem is the mother of the boy whose birthday is being celebrated. Since the perspective is coming from a mother, the way she views the boys behaviors affects how the reader is able to receive information. While a clear background of the mother cannot be established, it can be said that she views boys as violent creatures no matter the age. The boys are simply playing around, however through the mother eyes simple childhood like fun is described in such a way that it becomes sickening. The poem describes the boys as if they were in the military. Rank plays a significant role in how the boys treat one another. By showing how the boys act towards one another, the poem shows how horrific the stereotype that males are given can be. A fine example of how violent the boys are, is when they all come to an agreement with who they are able to kill, “We could easily kill a two-year-old, he says in his clear voice.” (Olds). By showing how dreadful the stereotype can be, it is as if the poem is attempting to show how unnerving boys are. …show more content…
While violence in not celebrated in “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”, in the poem “Rite of Passage” the stereotype is held up true in a horrifying way. By holding the stereotype as true within the poem an insight to how unnerving the boys are provides readers an understanding that the way the boys are acting doesn’t seem right. In both writings the point of view is very different. While both are talk in a first person narrative, the speakers both have different backgrounds. Brent Staples, a male, experiences the way he is viewed first hand. From this experience he easily can draw a conclusion that this connotation given is harmful and not true. Unlike Mr. Staples, the mother from the poem draws from how she views boys to describe her child’s birthday party. Due to these different backgrounds a story of how men are is
The way the boys are describe are analogous to young men at war. The speaker of the poem is the mother of the boy whose birthday is being celebrated. Since the perspective is coming from a mother, the way she views the boys behaviors affects how the reader is able to receive information. While a clear background of the mother cannot be established, it can be said that she views boys as violent creatures no matter the age. The boys are simply playing around, however through the mother eyes simple childhood like fun is described in such a way that it becomes sickening. The poem describes the boys as if they were in the military. Rank plays a significant role in how the boys treat one another. By showing how the boys act towards one another, the poem shows how horrific the stereotype that males are given can be. A fine example of how violent the boys are, is when they all come to an agreement with who they are able to kill, “We could easily kill a two-year-old, he says in his clear voice.” (Olds). By showing how dreadful the stereotype can be, it is as if the poem is attempting to show how unnerving boys are. …show more content…
While violence in not celebrated in “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”, in the poem “Rite of Passage” the stereotype is held up true in a horrifying way. By holding the stereotype as true within the poem an insight to how unnerving the boys are provides readers an understanding that the way the boys are acting doesn’t seem right. In both writings the point of view is very different. While both are talk in a first person narrative, the speakers both have different backgrounds. Brent Staples, a male, experiences the way he is viewed first hand. From this experience he easily can draw a conclusion that this connotation given is harmful and not true. Unlike Mr. Staples, the mother from the poem draws from how she views boys to describe her child’s birthday party. Due to these different backgrounds a story of how men are is