Society's Influence on Age

            Susan Orlean’s short story, “The American Male at Age Ten” reveals a perspective into the life of a ten-year-old boy and how the growing culture and society have such an immense impact on him.  Orlean writes the story from the vantage point of a narrator describing the life of Colin Duffy and how the changing society alters Colin’s happiness from a simple enjoyment of life to a desire for materialistic goods.  After re-reading the story, I have noticed that the first paragraph does well to introduce the entire story and describe the simplistic pleasures Colin Duffy enjoys.  It is as if Orlean took out all of the negative societal influences that she will later write about that affect him, and what he believes he is too young for (i.e. “a decision about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (con) and Eurythmics (pro) (Orlean 8)).  Rather, the first couple of paragraphs are written with the innocent, child-like perspective of a ten-year-old.  Orlean’s technique of writing through the perspective of a child makes the entire story come together, and provides vivid details of Colin’s character that are concise and not over-wrought. 

            At the same time, because she writes from the perspective of a child it was more startling to read the complex issues that Colin is facing.  Colin is at the age where he is hearing the hard facts and issues of the world, yet does not know how to fully digest this new information.  Orlean’s portrayal of this is exactly how surprised an adult might be if a ten-year-old said that he or she were “old enough to know people who have died and to know things about the world that are worrisome” or if he or she were “old enough to begin imagining that [this child] will someday get married” (Orleans 2).  This is especially true with the second to last paragraph on page six.  The paragraph emphasizes the psychological nature behind a ten-year-old’s introduction to relationships, than humorously sums it up by saying that “this is around the age when guys get screwed up about girls,” (Orlean 6).  The entire paragraph shows how items that parents offer children, or what they experience earlier on vastly affects them as adults, such as when Colin’s parents gave him “dolls as well as guns” (Orlean 6).  Orlean’s writing techniques portrays the voice of a child, yet surprises the reader through the child’s comprehension of such complex issues in the world, i.e. when they discuss AIDS and HIV.  The story truly takes on the perspective of a child-like “innocence” being transformed by society through the repetition of issues regarding what a ten-year-old “is old enough for.”