Student Paper
Eng. 4
10/17/2012
Facing Reality
Sometimes, just because of the better things we have or the good life we live, we assume
or imagine that other people in the world have those privileges. We only get to see the reality of
things happening in other places when we venture out. When this happens, it often comes as a
shock. In the poem "Singapore", Mary Oliver reveals the shock and surprise
people experience when faced with situations of other individuals they never imagined existed.
The speaker in this poem is a woman who is visiting Singapore. We know this because she had
to use the ladies restroom. In the restroom at the airport in Singapore, the speaker meets a
woman wh+o is washing the airport ash trays in the toilet bowl. The speaker was disgusted by
what she saw because she did not think that things like this happened. She was disgusted and
angry at the woman's situation because she expected the world to be a happy place where people
do not have to wash things in a toilet bowl. She may have thought this way because she had a
better life in her own native country. The speaker after seeing the woman at the airport came to
realize that life is never perfect or filled with happiness, therefore, pain or suffering must exist
somewhere to balance things out. Notwithstanding the pain they pass through, the speaker
also realized that people can still find peace in what they do just like the woman washing the ash
trays did because of the way she peacefully washed the trays. The ideas established in the poem
indicate the realization of the true sufferings of individuals unknown to us and the hidden peace
some people experience inside no matter the poor conditions present. It goes ahead to reveal that
sufferings might be present in our lives sometimes, but we just have to search in ourselves to find
a peace within that pain.
When we are faced with issues or circumstances that trouble our minds, we sometimes
want to leave and not have to face those things. The speaker in the poem "felt in [her] pocket for
[her] ticket" (7) when she saw the woman in the toilet washing the trays. Feeling for the ticket
which is her assurance that she can leave this troubling place, suggests to us that she wishes not
to stay in that place and deal with the uncomfortable feeling it brings. Fleeing from the
uncomfortable situations we are faced with does not guarantee that we are going to be happy
when we leave. The pain can only go away when we learn to work towards making it better.
Life cannot always be perfect so we have to face these things we detest even though like the
speaker, we believe “a poem should always have birds in it” (8) because they bring happiness,
but this is not true because a poem can never always have birds in it. The birds we wish to be
present in poems are those things that always make a poem a happy one. They could also stand
for the things that make life happy. Everyone wants to live a happy life but it helps if we
understand that it will not always be so and learn to appreciate the things we have. The speaker
realized that leaving from this place will not take away the pain from this truth she had just learnt
about another individual. She offered a little relief by smiling back at the woman in the toilet;
that was her step towards making better scenery out of situation that seemed hopeless. Those
times it only seems like the best way to avoid a circumstance is flee, we only have to look back
and see that things could always work out for the better and that happiness can always rise from
those things. It means that life will not always be filled with happiness or “fountain[s] /rising
and falling” (21-22) but we can always make the most out of what we have.
If the harsh plight of others really touches our hearts, we often find ourselves wishing
them better thing in life. The reflections of the speaker helps us see that when we really
understand the hardships of others, we tend to wish for an uplifting situation even when there
might not be any way for us to end those sufferings. When the speaker saw the woman washing
the trays in the restroom, she was overcome with disgust but then she also felt pity for the
woman. When the woman turned her face towards the speaker, the speaker noticed that “her
beauty and her embarrassment struggled together and/ neither could win” (15-16). The woman’s
beauty and her embarrassment could both stand for an inner peace and a pain that the woman
feels. The beauty stands for the hidden peace she finds in the job but at the same time her
embarrassment portrays the pain and shame she feels from doing such a job. So, she has learnt to
deal with both emotions, knowing that wallowing in the shame or pain will not solve her
problems. Deep inside of her, the speaker wished the woman’s beauty would overcome the
embarrassment so that it could at least be something positive that overshadows the poor
condition she was in. The speaker knows that “everybody needs a job” (18) and this was
probably what the woman could find to do, but she still she wishes for a better thing that would
put the woman in a happier place. From this, we realize that the times when it happens that it is
not in our power to change the situations of others we can still wish and hope that something
good and happier betides them.
Even though we always imagine and fantasize about the good things of life that we could
have, we first have to endure the unfavorable things present while we wait for our wishes to
materialize. In the speaker’s reflections she agrees that everybody "wants to stand in a happy
place in a poem"(19) and in life. This is only an imagination which may or may not be and so,
we have to move on with life and work with what we have. We all really want those
imaginations to be made manifest now “but first we must watch her as she stares down at her
labor” (20) and face the reality of the things going on around us. Watching the woman washing
the tray means dealing with the obstacles present as we work towards getting to our happy place.
We have to face those situations that seem challenging and impossible just like the
speaker watched the woman even though she disliked what she saw. We cannot change these
issues at an instant therefore, we must take life easy like the woman who did not "work slowly
nor quickly, like a river"(25) but worked at her own pace to achieve the result she wanted;
ultimately teaching us to approach life with ease. Just because we want to live a happy life does
not mean we have to excessively push or overwork our abilities to obtain temporary relief but
rather work towards achieving the lasting happiness. The woman even though she was washing
trays in the toilet, was still able to compose herself peacefully to handle the challenges of doing
such a job. The speaker had wanted to leave to a place where she feels happy but she realized she
had to face and overcome the disgust this place brings because she understood it was the reality
of things she never knew. This illustrates the fact that we can always compose ourselves
peacefully to tackle those things that seem to hold us back.
When we face the painful conditions in life, we seek an immediate relief, but then, we
also realize that it might not happen. We only just hope that everything turns out for the better. In
the speaker’s reflections, she contemplates the things that might be going on in the life of the
woman washing the ash trays. The speaker knows and does not “doubt for a moment that [the
woman] loves her life” (27) and would love for it to be happy too. She believes that the woman
wants a better lifestyle but cannot immediately get herself out of the one she is currently in.
Knowing this makes the speaker “want to rise up from the crust and the slop/ and fly down the
river” (28-29) where she can find comfort. This could be what she really wishes the woman
could have; an opportunity to leave her sufferings to a place of comfort. The speaker knows that
“this probably won’t happen/ but maybe it will” (30-31) and then the woman can have her
comfort and happiness. Being that the world will still have some pain in it, the speaker does not
wish for “anything miraculous but only/the light that can shine out of a life” (34-35) to radiate an
inner happiness, peace and comfort in the midst of trouble, for the woman at the airport.
The poem resonates with the idea that when we are faced with conditions we did not
imagine existed, we always tend to be shocked. Like the speaker notes, “darkness [is] ripped
from [our] eyes” (2) to see the real issues and troubles people in other places go through to have
some of the privileges we take for granted. It also teaches that when this happens, we do not have
to think quickly about escaping to our place of comfort but rather, take a time to appreciate what
we have and also encourage those people just like the speaker did by smiling back at the woman
washing ash trays. Our lives cannot always be filled with happiness and obviously the woman
washing the ash tray did not have a perfect one but she learnt to go through it. Just like the
woman, we have to learn how to work through our problems to achieve an inner peace and
happiness and possibly a lasting solution to those problems. It is not as if we have to bask in our
pains but rather work through it calmly likes the woman washing the trays. Also, if we have it
better in life, we should learn to offer in the best way we can, some help and cheerfulness to
those who need it.