The City as Death and Ugliness
Pablo Neruda’s “Walking Around” portrays a bleak outlook of
city life that renders the speaker “tired of being a man” (Line 1). He enters
establishments “all shriveled up” (2), feeling uncomfortable and out of place. Feeling
suffocated by the confines of the city, he desperately craves the comfort of “stones
or of wool” (6) found in country life. The city appears as a monstrous entity
which fills the speaker with loathing and disgust. He grows tired of the “establishments,”
“gardens,” “merchandise,” “glasses,” and “elevators” (7-8), signifying a desire
to abandon the artificial feel of the city and return to the authenticity of
the pre-modernized world.
The tone of the poem is somber and Neruda expresses
overwhelming feelings of helplessness and frustration. The speaker compares
himself to a “root in the dark,” stifled by the city and unable to grow or
pursue his dreams. He compares his life to a “solitary tunnel” (25) and refers
to “corpses,” “dying,” and “pain” (25-26) to convey a sense of extreme loneliness
amidst the bustling city.
Neruda relies heavily on the sense of smell to articulate
the rancid nature of the city. He notes that the mere smell within the barber
shops makes him “sob out loud” (5) and complains of shops that smell of vinegar.
The putrid aromas are juxtaposed with horrific images of “intestines hanging
from the doors” (34-35) and “teeth in a coffee pot” (36) which demonstrate the
encompassing ugliness of his surroundings. Throughout the poem, Neruda portrays
the city not as the center of life and prosperity, but rather of ugliness and
death.
Work Cited
Neruda, Pablo. “Walking Around.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol.
II. New York: W.W. Norton
& Co., 2013. 1423-1424. Print.
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