You're a girl
and you'd better not forget
that when you step over the threshold of your house
men will look askance at you.
When you keep on walking down the lane
men will follow you and whistle.
When you cross the lane and step onto the main road
men will revile you and call you a looser woman.
if you've got no character
you'll turn back,
and if not
you'll keep going
as you are going now.
2) I had a very strong reaction to this poem when I first read it. I thought that maybe it was a husband talking to a wife but when I read carefully i noticed that it might be a mother talking to her daughter. The words are exactly those of a mother to their child.
3) The mother is giving a peace of advise to her daughter on how to be a strong woman. She is telling her to be on her way and don't pay too much attention to what men are doing or saying.
4) The narrator or speaker is the mother. She is speaking to her daughter.
The speaker is old, experienced and the listener is just a new comer in life and need to be taught some lessons.
5) The them to these poem for me should be " A MODERN GIRL" and the poem itself is just a peace of advise for young women out there.
The reason I'm saying it is that a modern girl should exactly follow what the words of this poem are saying Be careful when you walk on the street, be on your own way and do not matter what men say, etc.
3 comments:
It's interesting that you first thought the narrator was a man speaking to his wife. That would be consistant with the underlying theme in "Hills like White Elephants" as well.
I agree with your thought about the speaker being an older, wiser woman who is giving advise to a younger girl, in attempt to prepare her for what she may soon encounter in the real world.
I like you your interpretation of the story. It was similar to mine. I thought it was a story about preparing for the worst that the world may bring.
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