Weakness by Force
The poem “11/3/2004” by Christian Hawkey is about a character who feels weak and appears to be helpless in an abusive relationship. The narrator uses a defeated tone throughout the poem, possibly to reflect the frustration the significant other brings upon him or her. The author uses literary devices, structure, and themes like humiliation, weakness, and inability to take action in order to capture the feelings of the narrator. Hesitant and unable to stand up to the dominating force, the narrator soon realizes that he or she is trapped for eternity with no way to get free but suicide (whether a literal or symbolic one).
There are indications in the language of the poem that the narrator is caught in an abusive relationship; he/she is scared to end it and yet cannot go on with it. The reader does not know whether the narrator is a male or female, but knows that the character feels he/she is absolutely powerless. In line 12, the other person in the relationship throws the “Box of Weakness” at the narrator, which stands for the manipulation of the narrator’s inner emotions, chest, and heart. The capital letters signify that the “Weakness” referenced in this section is the central idea of the poem (12). In line 13, another “Weakness” is controlled by the other, in this case representing sexual, private areas that…show more content… Like a puppet, the narrator is bossed around “as if someone pulled a string” because he or she is too scared to make a move (22). The crawling that follows is public humiliation that represents a feeble, powerless infant released out into a “weakly-lit street” (19). Even the contemplated death by suicide, the “weakest possible act,” is passive because the narrator is not doing the killing, the fire is. Self-immolation causes destruction by burning, but it is not the narrator pulling a trigger or jumping off a