Poem Analysis: At The Pitt-Rivers

Throughout the story, At the Pitt-Rivers, the narrator analyses a “couple” in the museum. He observes the way the couple act around each other and how they communicate. When the narrator first spots the young woman, he observes her and her physical appearance: “The girl was definitely not attractive … she hadn’t got a nice figure; her legs were kind of dumpy and she didn’t have pretty hair or anything like that” (Lively 24). Right off the bat, the narrator judges the woman for not being attractive whatsoever. However, the narrator goes on for being misconstrued: “She still wasn’t pretty, but she had the most beautiful expression I’ve ever seen in my life” (Lively 25). The narrator is stating how, even though this woman may be unattractive, she has the most beautiful expression ever. Later on, the narrator realizes that the reason why she lights up so much and gives off this beautiful array of expression, is because of the man she is with. At this point, the narrator recognizes that the man may be in a relationship with the woman and eventually concludes that they are.
Throughout the rest of
The narrator writes this poem throughout the story, “It was a poem about an old man sitting on a bench in a park and getting into conversation with a boy ... and they swap opinions and observations and it’s not till the end you realise they’re the same person” (Lively 30). However, after the couple finally leaves at the end the story and the narrator doesn’t return to the Pitt-Rivers, the narrator tears up the poem “never did go on with that poem. I tore it up, as far as it had got,” (Lively 31). After the narrator experiences everything at the Pitt-Rivers, he wasn’t sure about his writing. I feel like this is a representation of his writing and his future writings. So no, I do not believe that he is going to advance in all types of writing in the