Young Boy's Birthday Party example essay topic
Despite her maternal wisdom, she is sarcastic when describing the children at the party, comparing them to their adult counterparts. She alludes to this from early on in the poem, "short men, men in the first grade / with smooth jaws and chins" (3-4), highlighting the fact their faces are smooth yet contradicting it with the fact that they are men. Later on, she describes their behavior in terms of predominantly male professions. "They clear their / throats a lot, a room full of small bankers, /they fold their arms and frown". (10-12) With this image, she immediately removes the reader from the setting of the party, to one of a stuffy room of a board meeting full of balding, middle aged men, and just as quickly as she reminds you that it is a young boy's party in the next line by identifying to arguing boys with their age, "a seven says to a six" (13). This is also observed in the last lines of the poem, "they clear their throats / like Generals, they relax and get down to / playing war, celebrating my son's life" (24-26) where she attributes very aggressive male behavior to that of young boys.
Her sarcastic tone also is apparent in the images used to enhance the scene. Prior to the mention of generals, she likens the image of birthday cake to that of a turret, a common component of war machines, with this passage: "the dark cake, round and heavy as a / turret, behind them on the table". (14-15) Yet, when she describes her son, there is a hint of admiration in her sarcasm: "chest narrow as a balsa keel of a / model boat". (17-18) Like the light strong wood of the balsa tree, the boy's stature is small yet his personality strong as he takes control of the group with the following excerpt: "speaks up as a host / for the sake of the group. /We could easily kill a two-year-old, /he says in his clear voice". (20-23) With his statement, he is able to end the squabbling among his guests.
Sharon Olds transforms a common, everyday occurrence of a boy's birthday party into the passage from one life stage into another. Her use of sarcasm correlates the actions and mannerisms of boys to those of men. The imagery supplements this by comparing ordinary objects to those associated with men bringing to surface the impact our society and culture has on our children.