The eponymous hero's quest is seen by critics as equivalent to a rite of passage, or more specifically to a coming of age quest [REF].
Although voicing his lines in a colloquial manner deemed "peasant speech" by Călinescu,[REF] the Bald Man is depicted in antithesis with Harap Alb, being, according to Bădărău's definition, "the symbol of evil, a cunning, intimidating, violent, arrogant, dictatorial man."[REF]