In the Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
A seven-year-old girl waits in a dentist's office in Worcester, Massachusetts, flipping through a National Geographic, when a sudden scream from inside the office leaves her feeling lightheaded and disoriented — as if she's momentarily lost touch with her own identity.
A seven-year-old girl waits in a dentist's office in Worcester, Massachusetts, flipping through a National Geographic, when a sudden scream from inside the office leaves her feeling lightheaded and disoriented — as if she's momentarily lost touch with her own identity. The poem explores that strange, dizzying moment when a child first understands she is an individual in a world filled with others, and how this realization is both inescapable and frightening. Bishop takes a simple, everyday situation and uses it to delve into deep questions about identity and belonging.
Tone & mood
The tone feels calm and observational at first — Bishop writes like a thoughtful child recounting events, focusing on facts and order. Yet, beneath this flatness, there's a sense of genuine vertigo. The poem maintains a steady voice, which intensifies the impact of the identity crisis when it occurs. There's also a subtle, dry humor in the details (like the shy girl engrossed in a magazine that disturbs her) that prevents the poem from slipping into melodrama.
Symbols & metaphors
- The National Geographic magazine — The magazine opens up a world for the girl that stretches far beyond Worcester — showcasing diverse bodies, landscapes, and cultures. It sparks her realization that humans exist in many different forms, planting the seeds of her identity crisis. It also illustrates how knowledge can sometimes feel more disturbing than reassuring.
- Aunt Consuelo's cry — The involuntary "oh!" reveals the gap between self and other. It’s a sound the girl identifies with, belonging to both her aunt and, disturbingly, to herself — evidence that our bodies and identities are more interconnected than we often realize.
- The waiting room itself — A waiting room is a transitional space—you find yourself caught between two states, surrounded by strangers who have nothing in common except their closeness. It’s an ideal backdrop for pondering what truly divides one person from another.
- February, Worcester, 1918 — The precise, unvarnished date and location ground the poem in reality, creating a stark contrast with the philosophical turmoil swirling in the girl's mind. The backdrop of the First World War implies that the struggle between collective and individual identity extends beyond just a child's concerns.
- Falling — The girl’s sensation of falling represents Bishop’s way of depicting the loss of a stable sense of self. It’s a physical, involuntary, and terrifying experience—just like when a concept you once accepted without question suddenly falls apart.
Historical context
Elizabeth Bishop wrote this poem late in her career, and it appeared in *Geography III* in 1976, just three years before her death. The setting is drawn from her own life: she partly grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the date mentioned in the poem, February 5, 1918, is the day before her seventh birthday. This poem comes from a time when Bishop was reflecting on her New England childhood with a fresh perspective, similar to other autobiographical works like "One Art." Overall, *Geography III* grapples with themes of place, loss, and identity — exploring where we are, who we are, and how delicate those answers can be. The backdrop of the First World War is significant: Bishop was writing during the Vietnam era, and the ongoing presence of war as a human experience adds depth to the child's personal struggles.
FAQ
On the surface, it's about a six-year-old girl sitting in a dentist's office in 1918. However, the deeper theme revolves around the moment she suddenly loses the sense of separation between herself and others — an identity crisis sparked by her aunt’s cry of pain. Bishop takes this small, everyday event to delve into how peculiar and delicate our understanding of being an individual really is.
Yes, very much so. Bishop grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the date mentioned in the poem — February 5, 1918 — is the day before her seventh birthday. She reflects on her childhood self, but like all autobiographical poems, it is also influenced by the adult poet's perspective as she looks back.
It illustrates a sense of otherness—bodies and places that are entirely different from anything in the girl's New England experience. The photographs of African women both disturb and intrigue her, raising the central question the poem explores: if people can appear and live so differently, what truly makes *me* me? The magazine serves as the catalyst for her identity crisis.
Falling captures Bishop's way of expressing the feeling that arises when a concept you've always accepted suddenly loses its meaning. The girl has always believed she knows herself, but when she hears her aunt's cry and feels it deeply, that certainty crumbles. Falling is the tangible feeling of losing your balance on what you thought was stable ground.
The poem takes place in February 1918, amidst the First World War. Bishop concludes by reminding us that "the War was on." This serves two purposes: it jolts the girl back to the mundane reality, and it subtly implies that the conflict between individual and collective identity — where do I end and others begin? — is more than a mere philosophical dilemma for a child. War amplifies this issue, as individuals get engulfed by the collective.
The poem uses free verse and doesn't follow a regular rhyme scheme, yet it flows in a controlled, almost prose-like manner — featuring short lines, straightforward sentences, and deliberate sequencing. This orderly surface intensifies the shock of the psychological vertigo when it occurs. Bishop relies on the content to convey emotion instead of relying on formal embellishments.
It highlights one of the more peculiar and less-discussed aspects of childhood: the moment you understand that being *you* isn’t a certainty but rather an ongoing, delicate process. The girl lacks the words to express what she feels, but Bishop articulates it for her in hindsight. Growing up in this environment involves recognizing your own individuality — and discovering that this realization is more frightening than freeing.
Bishop dedicated her career to exploring themes of displacement, loss, and the struggle to feel at home anywhere. This poem is a clear reflection of that work. The child in the waiting room is already facing the sense of instability that would characterize Bishop's life — moving between countries, losing loved ones, and never truly settling down. *Geography III*, the collection from which this poem is taken, is her most straightforward confrontation with these themes.