My Son the Man Poem Analysis

Thesis: In Sharon Olds’ poem, “My Son the Man”, the poet deliberately alludes the inevitable growing up of a son to the magician Houdini, who is renowned for freeing himself after being chained, sealed in a padlocked trunk, and dropped into deep water. By making the allusion to this magician, Olds explicates the importance of the son to grow up and be able to freely practice individualistic skills while visually enhancing the imagery she utilizes within the poem.

I.                   The allusion to Houdini contributes to the inevitable maturation of the son as Olds describes the transformation from being a son to now becoming a man.

A.    Olds takes advantage of allusions in order to communicate an intricate meaning through a simple comparison by stating “Suddenly his should get a lot wider, / the way Houdini would expand his body / while people were putting him on chains” (1-3). Houdini is known as an escape artist whose most famous stunt was freeing himself after being chained, sealed in a padlocked trunk, and dropped into deep water. This allusion signifies the development of the son in comparison to the speaker’s emotions regarding the son’s foreseeable transformation.

B.      However, Olds responds to this inevitable alteration as tentatively as possible; despite the foreseeable outcome, the poet seems to hold back the fact that the son will go through this predictable transformation into adulthood.  Olds emphasizes the sense of apprehension by noting that “I cannot imagine him / no longer a child, and I know I must get ready, / get over my fear of men now my son is going to be one” (7-10). It is clear that the speaker feels uneasy about the son’s milestone into adulthood, yet she must be accepting this fact in order to counter any amount of uneasiness she has. The allusion Olds interprets within the poem enhances how apprehensive the mother feels as “Houdini expand[ing] his body” (2) justifies the inevitable life event of reaching adulthood.