This Old Man

Throughout history men have always searched for what it truly means to be a masculine man, especially in America. Understanding and researching the true meaning of being a man can be deciphered in the American literature we read today. By reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain it becomes easier to understand this ongoing question. These American authors reinforce high masculinity standards…

unique. Its legacy began over two-thousand years ago. In Samoa, the tradition of applying tatau by hand has been unbroken even to this day. The pe’a [beh-ah] is the tatau for males only it covers the body from the torso to the knees. In doing this signifies that the boy is to become a man ready to take on the responsibilities and tasks of his village. Every young man is expected and encouraged to receive a pe’a as part of his natural progression from boy to village laborer to matai (chief). An…

quietly dancing and singing with innocence. None bore witness to the simple, yet zealous performance that was displayed. Gradually the darkness stalked the flame, and in one foul swoop it snuffed the light. A watchtower lay engulfed in darkness. A young man sat atop the platform of another watchtower, observing the surrounding settlement of Darreth. His mind begun to wonder as he peered over the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. There would have to be at least, two hundred people asleep in…

A man with droopy tired eyes and scaffold beard was sitting on his chair reading the cases that happened over the month,people were disappearing without any trace,all were last seen near the edge of the forest or in other cases in the park .he couldn't understand what was happening to this town,seance he worked here it was so peaceful about 6 years and all of the sudden this.A loud bam was heard,the man jolted up to see a his fellow colleague standing by the dore. “Can i help you with…

The myth and reality of the cowboy shaped todays definition of masculinity because they have this high and strong stature they need to uphold. Masculinity is having the traditional acts as a men, such as being strong and secure. In today’s word man and women have two different mindsets. Even though we are all humans, our gender defines the way we should act due to how society makes it. Males are interesting objects. They have to keep their chest high and stand their ground. Cowboys are…

years old. How do you think you would handle it? The book April Morning by Howard Fast is a story about The Battle of Lexington. Adam Cooper is a character who is a boy in the beginning, a boy starting to become a man and by the end, he is a man with responsibilities. Adam Cooper is the main protagonist in the story, he is a boy that wants to be treated like a man. Being a man lets you think for yourself and make your own decisions. Adam is not able to do that in the beginning of this…

will not do any good. Instead one must conquer it, and there are various ways to do that. Anger helps to distract and give a focus other than the fear. Clenching fists and widening eyes all help to let it out. Then there is the opposite, self talk. This has a more calming effect with positive thoughts and a way to make one believe the opposite of the fear. Violence may not always be the answer, but it sure does work to help one overcome. Letting it out on others makes one feel better about…

T. Caraghessan Boyle’s story, “Greasy Lake”, is a rite of passage story. This can be seen in the themes throughout the story. The story itself has coinciding themes in it. Right from the beginning the boys are looking for trouble. They wish to be bad or to be known as bad characters. The narrator describes them as boys who “wore torn-up leather jackets, slouched around with tooth picks in their mouths, sniffed glue and ether...drank gin and grape juice, Tango, Thunderbird, and Bali Hai”…

In a patriarchal society, women are dominated by men who hold all authority over them. The insidious nature of this ideology, although not as accepted as it once was, has stood the test of time; long enough that the idea of men being superior to women can appear to be natural. Since the beginning of time women have been depicted as unstable, taken the blame, or have been subject to discrimination and stripped of their rights due to the rules of a patriarchal society. Women’s rights were possibly…

others. As well as this idea that you have to get through all these things and it makes you an official “man”. The characteristics that they believed a man should carry with them such as bravery, endurance of pain, . Their masculinity is so fragile, they have to prove that they are men via aggression and violence, if they’re macho enough. These beliefs they have are not so different from other cultures such as western cultures. The ideas of masculinity and what makes someone a man are very…