The Rite of Passage

The Rite of Passage by Alissa Gray - Saturday, October 6, 2012, 10:08 PM

For the "Rocking-Horse Winner" it was a destiney and rite of passage as a man witnessing his degenerate gambleholic father play the horses and hope he doesn’t lose. Of which the boys memory is of winning the race as he races with the horses on his rocking-horse and twistedly defines his memory with the word, "Luck" or "Lucky". I think you shouldn’t chase luck it just fall on your lap. Paul’s passage to adulthood starts when he longer care free and the truth he believed when he was a child contradicts cracks like a broken vase of flowers and there lies the truth he sees about gambling and being lucky. The apple doesn’t fall from the tree. Paul’s defense of luck ultimately  leads to his own death unfortunately proving the same. The hero archetype was portrayed by the father’s unrealistic yet imaginative lucky on winning the horses and large amount of cash for the family saving the day, being a hero, for Paul to follow by. Thats when the Oedipus Complex and conflict theory plays its part as the mother tries to put Paul’s father’s gambling addiction in true perspective as she dreads and hopes that her son doesn’t follow into his father’s footsteps; she instead leads him away which leads him more closer and back to his destiny that he will feed his genetic/nurtured addiction, chase the luck he would only seldom have a taste/glimpse of but never catch until he died of such illnesses just like his father. In the story, "Araby" the unnamed narrator does his own rite of passage into adulthood by discovering the harsh truth about love, martialism, true love, and how different they are sometimes. Unfortunately for him Megan’s sister loved and fantasized about the bazaar not for him. When he makes this hurtful, frustrating, and aggravating, epiphany he buys nothing, not only feeling the rejection and unwanted from the seller at the Bazaar but from Megan’s sister, as well. The experience of love and loss. The quest for the Holy Grail wasn't successful but he took out of it for life, that carried him into adulthood was a grail enough. He would never want to buy love for anyone, love can't be bought or its not true love.  I can’t imagine how it was to feel so lonely, as he watched all the lights turn off as the bazaar closed and did not have anything to bring home to Meg’s sister must of been so lonely; on top of everything the way that the seller made him feel unwanted. In my opinion he was considered pretty ordinary because all poeple at one point or another been in that kind of situation having to make a decision on if this particular person they feel more whether love or lust is worth winning them over and their love over by buying them something or even buying their love. Even the ordinary discovery on what they want out of love and the right person they believe they should be with for this love they want. Its an ordinary crossroads everyone faces at one point in their life.

	Re: The Rite of Passage by Allen Ghazarian - Saturday, October 6, 2012, 10:47 PM
	Alissa, Your comparison to the holy grail in "Araby" was very good, I completely forgot to include that piece into my analysis but you did a fantastic job at it. Both are very tragic stories that could've turned out a bit better had they had the experience of life.

Re: The Rite of Passage by Eduardo Valladolid - Saturday, October 6, 2012, 11:44 PM
	I enjoy your transition between both stories. I especially appreciated how you approached this analysis by calling it a rite of passage. Definitely fitting for both these boys.