A portrayal of different kinds of heroism can be seen throughout the works of Sharon Olds' poems compared to the heroism seen in John Updike's "A&P". The heroism portrayed in "A&P" is that of a boy,Sammy, standing up for a girl, who he likes and thinks is being treated unfairly, by quitting his job for her. While the poems by Sharon Olds show a different kind of heroism than Updike's story, I believe they do all share a universal idea of heroism. "Rites of Passage" is about a little boy's birthday party and his mom witnessing a quarrel between the "short men" and her son speaking up and taking control of the situation before it gets out of hand. The heroism by the boy in this particular poem can be identified with Sammy in a sense that they both take control of their very different situations. In "The One Girl at the Boys' Party", a little girl is watched by her mother at a party where she being the only girl remains calm and collected in spite of this fact.It was very difficult for me to see the heroism in this story just because it is more of the mother's view of her daughter being the only girl at the party. I think that the two poems are more about the heroism that the mothers see in their children and not about the children really trying to be heroes like Sammy is in "A&P".
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