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Lynda Hull's Poem 'Night Waitress'

1382 Words6 Pages

Night Waitress Mini Analysis Essay Life as a night waitress may leave one with feelings of desolation. Night after night, the same repetitious routines are performed. It is not a job that produces fulfillment, but one providing a way to earn enough money in wages and tips to make ends meet. Throughout the night, idle moments allow daydreams to creep in as the soul yearns for a better life. The innermost feelings of the night waitress are the subject of Lynda Hull’s poem, “Night Waitress.” It is a tale of difficulties faced as a member of the working class. Often, despair takes a grip, and the feelings of entrapment refuse to let go. The heart longs to break free of the current situation and find true happiness. The desire is similar in ways, …show more content…

Evidence that the waitress dreams of escape is found midway into the poem as she states, “I want a song that rolls/ through the night like a big Cadillac/ past factories to the refineries,” (Hull, 24-26). With these words, she dreams of a finer life away from this factory town and her waitressing, but one she may never have. She wants these things, but then her mind begins to drift back to the safety of her home as she muses, “Sometimes when coffee cruises my mind/ visiting the most remote way stations, / I think of my room as a calm arrival,” (Hull, 29-31). Her room is her calming place of rest. “. . .The calendar/ on my wall predicts no disaster/ only another white square waiting/ to be filled like the desire that fills/ jail cells, . . .” (Hull, 32-36). The waitress is filled with despair. Her life is empty. She is resigned once again to the hopelessness she feels. So now she wants, “to try every bar down the street” (Hull, 38). Alcohol might provide a temporary escape from her miserable life, but a change of her own perception would be more lasting. Until that happens, the waitress will forever be trapped, because her trap is of the …show more content…

The waitress and Cinderella are opposites. The waitress perceives herself as someone invisible and trapped in a job that she cannot change. She longs for the change that would take her away from the factory town to a more refined way of life. Yet the negative thoughts continue to creep back into her mind. The waitress will forever be trapped because her trap is of the mind. Once she breaks free of that and shifts her thinking, she will be free, whether in a new job, or even if she stays. In contrast, Cinderella is happily serving, while waiting, dreaming, and working. If the waitress adopts the simple mantra of Cinderella, “Have courage and be kind,” how different her mindset will be, and how many more doors will open, both metaphorically and physically, (Dargis.

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