Frank Convoy

Our heartstrings have been plucked by heroic tales of boyhood friendships; the kinship, adventure, and wit that outlines them via movies, memoirs, and excerpts from stories. The adolescence era for boys is primarily a time of personal revelations and the rowdy companionship of best friends. These boyhood friendships exist on a moment-to-moment basis in an unrealistic and superficial state, where the concern with each other’s appearances and long-term goals is not prevalent. The two passages, the first authored by Frank Conroy and the second by William Maxwell, clearly illustrate the spontaneous and carefree ventures that the boys partake in with encouragement from one another.
Frank Conroy, in conveying his story, claims to have a memory lapse about his childhood friend, Tobey, but then describes his demeanor in vivid detail. There is no mention of Tobey’s physical description, but rather the manner in which he conducted himself, “…he could walk on the hot, sharp coral without...