In the two passages there was one controlling idea and that is boyhood friendships. Passage 1 is by Frank Conroy and the second passage is by William Maxwell. Both of these passages show that friendships can last. Both passages show that boyhood is friendship and the boys in the passage show it by helping each other build the tree fort. In both passages there is a similarity; in passage 1 it says "occasionally we'd glance back to …showed first 75 words of 298 total…

…showed last 75 words of 298 total…he said Cletus doesn't do anything to help the boy out. But when it was getting dark they decided to go home for supper and they still remained friends. In cessation, boyhood friendships can last a while but some don't and in both of the passages at the end the boys were still friends. In many ways society can change that and in the passages there was no corruption to break up the boys friendships.