Poetry of Witness Response

The woman hanging from the thirteenth floor window is not a literal interpretation, rather a representation of a woman who expresses hopelessness and is unsure whether she can rediscover herself. Her struggles come from deeper issues relating to her family, the previous men in her life and the stages of being a woman. She is not alone when dealing with all these emotions. “She is a woman of children, of the baby, Carlos, and of Margaret, and of Jimmy who is the oldest. She is her mother’s daughter and her father’s son. She is several pieces between the two husbands she has had. She is all the women of the apartment building who stand watching her, watching themselves” (10-15). The woman hanging from the thirteenth floor window struggles with complicated issues that most women go thru in their lifetime. She speaks with jealousy of people with higher wealth status while realizing her own faults. “It is a dizzy hole of water and the rich live in tall glass houses at the edge of it” (20-21). As she stands at the edge of her own reality she starts to realize some good in her life. The joys of being a mother bring her back, and thinking of her family and the women she was which has transformed her into the women she is now. The woman had hit rock bottom, “she thinks of 4 a.m. lonelinesses [SIC] that have folded her up like death, discordant (lack of harmony), without logical and beautiful conclusion...she sees the sun falling west over the grey plane of Chicago” (56-58, 61-62). She interprets the end of her sorrow as getting ready to jump from the thirteenth floor, but then she is able to pull herself off the ground and start to rebuild her life. “She thinks she remembers listening to her own life break loose, as she falls from the 13^th floor window on the east side of Chicago, or as she climbs back up to claim herself again” (63-66). The woman hanging from the thirteenth floor window is a mother going through depression while dealing with life struggles just as I too am a mother dealing with the challenges of life.

I believe that I can be the woman hanging from the thirteenth floor window. The hardship that is expressed throughout this poem made it easy for me, and probably most women, to relate with my own life experiences. Dealing with the stress of being a single mother, moving away from home, getting a new job, going to a new school and dealing with present and past relationships have been some obstacles that I have had to overcome. At times I can also see myself hanging on by a thread but have to make my own decisions towards which way to lead my life. “But she is the woman hanging from the 13^th floor window, and she knows she is hanging by her own fingers, her own skin, her own thread of indecision” (46-48). Jealousy is a common factor among people, always wanting what you don’t have. I get jealous, but I have learned to use that jealousy towards improving myself. As I have made it through difficulties in life, I find that there are reasons why I pick myself up off the floor and not stay in a depression state. I do it for my family, for the satisfaction of becoming somebody I have always wanted to be, but mostly for my daughter and myself.

Sources:

"Abhinav Jain ." Web. 18 Sep 2010. <http://bibliosity.blogspot.com/2009/01/woman-hanging-from-thirteenth-floor.html>.