In The Waiting Room Analysis

In The Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop, the writer of In The Waiting Room; written in 1976, was from Worcester, Massachusetts, the place in which the poem is set. The majority of Elizabeth Bishops poems were written based on her own experiences throughout her life, resembling somewhat how she dealt with certain experiences and her ideology about life.

“In Worcester, Massachusetts” she instantly sets the scene of her poem, from the area in which she was brought up, it can then be assumed that this poem may be an aspect of her life experience and perspective as a child.

“I went with Aunt Consuelo to keep her dentist appointment”. The reader will then instinctively question, why she; a child, is accompanying her aunt,

The striking imagery, hits the reader, as we question why a child has remembered such explicit content which has still left an impact on both her child self and grown self. The national geographic has abruptly exposed her to people, culture and places she has never experienced nor even thought about before, at the age of 6. It was believed that Elizabeth Bishop meddled with the actual contents, as in 1918, there were not any “black naked women” or “babies with pointed heads”, causing the reader to question the point behind these images and why they are exposed. This has then caused a “horrifying” image for her as a child, as she may not have seen breasts, signifying, a developed body, which she has not been exposed to. “naked women with necks wound round and round with wire” she then tries to make sense of this imagery, by comparing it to a “light bulb” something in which she is familiar with.

Conclusion

BORED by Margret Atwood and In The Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop both portray their own childhood in a simplistic, ignorant way, however both of these poems start to develop and this is then reflected in the speakers grown voice.
Both of these poems portray ignorance and oblivion in their childhood yet a sense of curiosity in “In The Waiting Room” and regret in “BORED”, nevertheless, both authors demonstrated Myopia as a child, due to their inexperience but the speakers grown voice as both poems