“Youth is a mistake; Manhood is a struggle, old age is a regret." Throughout history, age has followed men and women to the ends of the earth, always bringing regret with it. The relationship between age and regret is widely used in literary works to convey the regret that characters feel for both their mistakes and the experiences they had in their youth. In “Birches,” by Robert Frost, the narrator regrets not being able to relive his past and shows that he would give anything to be a child again. In Old School, by Tobias Wolff, Dean Makepeace regrets letting a lie embody him and guide his life down a lying path that leads to dark places. In both Old School and “Birches,” the central characters regret not being able to return to a time gone by, which leads to depression and loneliness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, in the old school, Dean Makepeace regrets allowing the assumption that he knew Ernest Hemingway, as the lie caused him so much suffering over the course of his life. In the novel's resolution, Dean Makepeace's background is revealed to readers and shows why he could no longer bear being the subject of a lie. Dean Makepeace thinks: “This boy had falsely claimed a history, while he himself had falsely claimed much more – some kind of importance, a life not his own.” The principal is forced to falsely claim a life that is not his in light of the rumors spread by students who once asked him at lunch about his relationship with Hemingway. Everything readers understand about Makepeace has been distorted over the years, with him letting a rumor gain traction and not stopping it as long as he could. He obviously regrets this mistake, and as he explains his story to the principal, he demonstrates that he would give anything to go back to his youth and change the mistake. However, he knows he can't do that and has to live with the consequence of being known as someone he could never be. Even after the principal tries to convince Makepeace that the lie was not his fault and therefore not his fault, the principal responds, “Thank you, John”… …“Bless your heart. I really have to go." This submissive attitude can largely be attributed to the fact that Makepeace knows it has committed wrongdoing and can do nothing to fix it. This life-changing mistake made by the principal carries with it a burden that weighs on Makepeace for years. Later, the narrator of “Birches,” a man who appears to be in the final years of his life, thinks to himself about how he would give anything to be a child again, regretting the loss of his former life. Frost describes the narrator as having a sort of desire to be immature and ignorant to everything except what he is given, proving once again that the promises of adulthood have not lived up to the narrator's expectations. The narrator talks about how he “was”… …“once a birch swinger himself/And so he dreams of being one again.” By using the language “dream,” Frost conveys to readers that the narrator understands that he cannot return to his past, but dreams that he can. The narrator wishes he could once again swing birches like he did in his youth because of the joy he felt in the past. However, in the present, he is in a crisis where he has no idea what to do with his life, forcing him to look back at his simplistic youth. The narrator's unhappiness with his living condition is particularly exemplified by his.