Beginning of Essay
A. Hemon’s Islands is the narrative of a young boys initiation into the adult world. The boy travels to a place he has never been before, far away from all the comforts of his childhood home. The island is full of secrets about the ‘adult world’ and the t ....

Middle of Essay
.... his singing such songs, without understanding the full meanings and connotations that those songs carry. The boys’ innocence is emphasized here, as these are ‘adult’ songs and it is only, generally, children who sing on car journeys until their voices are gone. Even before boarding the boat, the boy begins to notice how ugly age and adulthood can be. He notices the “gnarled knees , the spreading sweat stains on their shirts and sagging wrinkles of fat on their thighs.” (129) At one point, he sees “one of the Germans, an old, bony man” get down on his knees and then vomit over the pier edge. The boy sees this, but still ....