Intermediate 2
‘Hotel Room, 12th Floor’ by Norman MacCaig
TASK
Choose a poem which deals with a real or imaginary person or place.
Show how the person or place is introduced and how the techniques used give a
convincing portrayal of that person or place.
SQA/Int2/2004/Q7.
‘Hotel Room, 12th floor’ by Norman MacCaig is a poem which introduces a place. The
poet quickly establishes the setting as New York through reference to prominent
landmarks, and goes on to give his portrayal of the city through the mode of a first
person description of his experience of observing the city from his 12th floor hotel room.
Through effective use of word choice and imagery, MacCaig examines two views of the
city; a civilised and wealthy civilisation and a city which is violent and impoverished.
Such contrast of the two views of New York life leads to a convincing portrayal of what
the city is like.
The poem begins with the word ‘This morning’ to immediately establish the time
of day. This is significant as it gives the reader a clear impression of the conditions in
which the initial observation took place. Furthermore, this has a certain structural
significance when we consider that later in the poem the poet will contrast impressions of
the city during the day with the city at night.
Secondly, the mentions of the ‘Empire State Building’ and ‘Pan Am
skyscraper’ are also important as the reader recognises these as iconic symbols of
America. To me these buildings encapsulate well-known American ideals such as the
American Dream of achieving economic wealth and they are intended to show that New
York is a prosperous society. Yet, the imagery found throughout the poem makes clear
that MacCaig holds a rather different attitude.
MacCaig’s reference to the Empire State Building as ‘that jumbo sized dentist’s
drill’ clearly has negative connotations. As the ‘dentist’s drill’ is usually associated with
pain and suffering, it is clear that MacCaig is very critical of these American symbols,
and is thus critical of certain representations of New York.
Furthermore, the use of the simile which compares the ‘helicopter skirting’ the
buildings to a ‘damaged insect’, is additional evidence of the poet’s attitude. I found the
fact that the helicopter is compared to an insect particularly effective in emphasising the
‘jumbo’ size of the building. It seems to me that the poet is mocking the stereotypical
New York attitude that ‘biggest is best’. I also found the negative connotations of ‘insect’
successful in suggesting that the speaker believes that these buildings are nothing more
than ostentatious symbols which don’t reflect the realities of New York Life. This allows
MacCaig to go on to address the realities of the city in the rest of his poem.
Towards the end of the first verse, the time changes from day to night. This is
indicated with the turning point:
“But now midnight has come in”
Here, the word ‘but’ marks the change, while the word ‘midnight’ explains that there has
been not only a change in time of day, but a change in mood. The fact that we associate
midnight with fear and darkness is significant and it is clear that MacCaig intends us to
see the words ‘midnight’ and evil as interchangeable. This indicates that the poem will
now deal with the more sinister, yet realistic side of the city.
MacCaig also suggests that the city is struggling to battle against the forces of evil
which have gripped its streets. This corroborates common perceptions of New York as
crime ravaged areas, and thus is effective in giving a convincing portrayal of the place.
Furthermore, it is made clear that good is attempting to challenge this evil:
…Its uncivilised darkness
is shot at by a million lit windows, all
ups and acrosses”
Again, this shows how the poet’s reliance on aspects of light and darkness to symbolise
the key theme of good versus evil. This suggests that even during night, in some ways the
city will fight back. Here the ‘million lit windows’ represent good fighting back. It has
been suggested that this image has religious connotations as ‘ups and acrosses’ could be
recognises as the forming of a crucifix shape fighting the evil.
Equally, the start of the second verse suggests that the battle is almost lost, and
good cannot win out:
“But midnight is not
so easily defeated…”
If we consider this to be a continuation of the religious imagery of the preceding verse,
we can consider this to be a comment on the fact that society is beyond redemption from
the evils that go on within it. This stems from the notion that the lord was crucified as a
means of redeeming us; yet, the metaphorical attack by the ‘ups and acrosses’ cannot
save the doomed New York society.
Indeed, images of the city as a threatening and scary place are continued with
imagery describing the sights and sounds of the streets below that can be heard from the
speaker’s hotel room:
“the wildest of warhoops continually ululating through
the glittering canyons and gulches –
police cars and ambulances racing
to the broken bones...”
This exemplifies the dangers to be found on the streets below as the use of wild-west
imagery comparing the sounds on the streets of New York to the threatening war cries of
an Indian brave. This allows me to appreciate the threatening nature of the city.
Furthermore, the use of the onomatopoeic word ‘ululating’ gives the impression that the
sound is a constant backdrop to the city. The description of the police cars and
ambulances makes me realise the city is full of violence. In addition, the synecdoche
‘broken bones’ highlights that the casualties of this war between good and evil are seen
simply as bones rather than people. This conveys the uncaring nature of the city. Thus,
the description of the violent streets gives a convincing portrayal of the city.
Another way in which the city is portrayed well is through the references to
poverty:
“the harsh screaming
from coldwater flats…”
This illustrates how unpleasant life in the city is as the ‘harsh screaming’ would be an
unpleasant sound to the listener in the hotel room. The fact that this noise is descending
from ‘coldwater flats’ suggests that such pain is partly due to poor living conditions as
these flats do not even have hot water. This is clearly in stark contrast to the symbols of
great wealth and power described in the first verse. Therefore, I feel that MacCaig is
suggesting that New York is in reality far from the civilised society often portrayed.
Finally, the last verse of the poem offers a strong conclusion that suggests that the
darkness and evil presence within the city cannot be overcome. This presence is of course
a result of human nature: there is evil within us all and we are no more civilised now than
in the days of the wild-west:
“The frontier is never
somewhere else. And no stockades
can keep the midnight out.”
Here the use of ‘never’ and ‘no’ emphasises that the ‘midnight’ or evil is here to stay in
New York and no defences can change this. I found this an effective conclusion to the
poem as it challenges the positive perceptions generally associated with life in this city.
Overall, it can be seen that ‘Hotel Room, 12th Floor’ by Norman MacCaig offers an
effective portrayal of the city of New York. His critique of the representation of America
as a prosperous society employs imagery to allow us to appreciate his negative feelings
towards the city and its landmarks. Furthermore, his treatment of the theme of good
versus evil through the symbolism of light and darkness, and descriptions of the sights
and sounds from the streets made the portrayal of the place convincing.