Coming of age
Coming of ageComing of age
Many cultures have a unique way of accepting the leap from childhood to a manhood. These customs might be extremely different in each culture, but they share a common thread. The Jewish, Ibo and Mayan cultures are examples of variant societies that share the common notion that this stage should be marked in a distinctive way.
In the Jewish religion, boys are not obligated to observe the commandments, although they are encouraged to do so. At the age of thirteen, boys are required to abide by the commandments. The Bar Mitzvah, which literally means "son of the commandment," is the ceremony in which the Jewish boy accepts that obligation. During a Bar Mitzvah, the boy is called up to the Torah to recite a blessing over the weekly reading. In today's culture, it is expected for the boy to also recite the haftorah portion (weekly text from the prophets), and sometimes to lead part of the service. He is expected to make a speech that starts with the phrase, "Today I am a man." Although a Jewish boy automatically becomes a Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13, it has recently become popular to have a ceremony. The ceremony does not fulfill any commandment. In recent times, there is normally a reception that follows the ceremony. The Reform Movement tried to do away with the Bar Mitzvah because they did not accept the idea that a thirteen year old was considered a man. However, the movement failed due to the popularity of the Bar Mitzvah ceremony in modern times. "This criticism comes from a misunderstanding of the significance of the Bar Mitzvah. Bar Mitzvah is not about being a full adult in every sense of the word, ready to marry, go out on your own, earn a living and raise children. In Pirkei Avot of the Talmud, it is said that while 13 is the proper age for fulfillment of the Commandments, 18 is the proper age for marriage and 20 is the proper age for earning a livelihood"(Rich, Tracey). As one can see, the Jewish means of the coming of age of a boy is based on the religion.
On the other hand, In "Things Fall Apart," by Chinua Achebe, the coming of age of a boy in the Ibo culture is not religious at all. In the Ibo culture, there is no ceremony that decides when a Ibo boy "becomes a man," nor is there a certain age. The turning point from a boy to a man in the Ibo culture is depicted by a number of things. He no longer spends time in his mother's hut while she cooked, but rather in his fathers hut or he watches his father tap trees. The most significant change from a boy to a man in the Ibo culture is the departing from and the less respect for the women in the clan. Those two things combined prove that a boy no longer needs the nourishment of women. An example of this is in "Things Fall Apart" when Nwoye ". . . would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles"(Achebe 51). Another sign of when a boy changes into a man is when he wants to receive masculine tasks like splitting wood or pounding food. When a boy stops listening to the stories told by the women and he starts listening to the tales of bloodshed and war told by his father, he is no longer considered a boy. There is no certain mark or age in a boy's life in the Ibo culture when these changes need to happen comparable to the definite age of thirteen in the Jewish religion. It may also happen over a period of time while in the Jewish religion it happens in one day.
On the contrary to the nonchalant Ibo culture (on the subject of the transition from boyhood to manhood), it was a very important aspect of the Mayan culture. A party of boys was assembled in the godfather's courtyard where they sat before four elders of the clan along with a priest. The priest was situated next to a brazier. Taking turns, each child stood before the priest where he received maize and a pinch of copal. The child threw them into the brazier. The child had to confess his sins, and after this was done, the priest gave a lecture on maturity. Then the priest blessed each child by placing pure water over them, and the white bead stuck to the boys head at birth was removed. The children gave the elders cacao beans and feathers that they had brought for gifts. In return, each child was given a puff of smoke from the elders' pipes. Wine offerings were made to the gods. Then the brazier was brought to the outskirts of the village where it was quickly dumped. They believed that it carried away demons that had been removed from the children. The courtyard was then swept so that if any demons did happen to make it out, the courtyard would not look familiar to them. This ceremony was followed by a big feast, called the descent of the gods, which ended the ceremony. This ritual is obviously a very important time in a boys life. He was purified from the demons from inside of him, and he took on the title of a man, normally at the age of fourteen. This is much like the Jewish religion because in the early teen years, childhood was replaced by the responsibilities of manhood. They both have a one-day ritual which fulfills this transformation. On the other hand, the Ibo culture has no special day, nor set age. It is initiated when the boy is ready, not when society is ready for the boy. The boys' subsequent responsibilities are also different in each culture. The Jewish boys take on the responsibility of abiding by the Commandments. The Ibo boys take on new jobs, and depart from the embracement of their mothers. The Mayan boys are purified from evil demons and separated from their families; they lived alone in houses made for them until marriage, which was normally soon after. They also learned about maturity and responsibility, as did the Jewish boys.
The Jewish, Ibo and Mayan cultures all believe, even though committed in different ways, that this transitional stage in a boys life should be distinguished by certain events. Although the cultures' practices and customs are quite different, the unifying theme is marking the passage to adulthood in a ritualistic prescribed manner. This allows all members of the societies involved to recognize this important passage: becoming an adult member of their group.