The Secret Lion Symbolism

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Middle school and growing up can be terrifying and perplexing for any student. Symbolism plays a key role in describing the obstacles and process of surviving an awkward stage. The short story “The Secret Lion” by Alberto Rios chronicles the transition of a young boy from junior high into puberty. A young boy and his best friend Sergio notice the change in the atmosphere of their school environment. The boys realize that there are now multiple teachers and girls are not as approachable. According to the text, the boys see girls now, “but they weren’t the same girls we used to know because we couldn’t talk to them anymore” (2). They notice how different words are used and how desperately they want to know the meaning to each one. “School wasn’t school, everything …show more content…
The mountains are also known realistically as the golf course, but they view this location as heaven. They describe it; “Perfect. Heaven was green, like nothing else in Arizona” (21). They run around laughing and hitting each other, and their actions depict exactly how they feel. The narrator finds a “coke-holder”, which is actually just an ordinary hole on a golf course and he happily eats his packed lunch. They are so content and ecstatic that they act rich and believe that nothing can go wrong since they are in heaven. However, reality arrives in full force when two men come wanting to golf. The idea of heaven disappears and the boys feel themselves mature; “Something got taken away from us at that moment. Heaven. We grew up a little bit, and couldn’t go backward” (26). Overall, this golf course represents how growing up is unavoidable. These two boys gradually learn what growing up is like. Even though they want to hang on to their childhood, they finally realize that this desire is impossible. Their junior high experience, the arroyo, and the golf course all represent their coming of age into the unpreventable:

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In the short story The Secret Lion, Alberto Alvaro Rios uses literary elements to communicate his theme or message. Rios introduces the reader to two young boys who have just entered junior high and are suddenly met with drastic change. With setting, symbolism, and characterization, Rios is able to convey a theme about the loss of innocence when growing up. Rios begins his story by describing how when the boys entered junior high, everything changed. It was like a rug being pulled from underneath…

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