The theme of emerging identity in adolescence is important in this poem as the boy muses over his internal and external characteristics. The typical angst surrounding puberty for boys is complicated by the boy's Jewish religion, which not only causes emotional distress today when taunted by other boys but by the agony of sorting through the atrocities against Jewish people during World War II. The boy alternately wonders if he would ever grow up to be the kind of man who could endure such horrors and then muses about the motives and the lack of empathy of the Nazis who could inflict such atrocities.

In spite of all the heinous occurrences of the past the boy does have appreciation that at least he is a boy and therefore has at least one thing in his favor in society since males are given preferential treatment. At...