"Filling Station": A Revelation of Hidden Beauty Anonymous 12th Grade

In Filling Station, Elizabeth Bishop presents her readers with an image of urban life that at first seems filthy and repulsive; however, through subtle manipulation of techniques including tone change, connotation and structural shift, she gradually reveals the familial love and intimacy hidden within the titular station, reframing her landscape as a place of beauty.

At the beginning of the poem, the persona’s observation focus intensely on the dirt and grime of the “oil-soaked, oil-permeated” filling station. The repetition of “oil” emphasizes the sense of permeating filth within the station, a sense which is further strengthened by Bishop's emotive and rather dramatic exclamation “Oh, but it is dirty!” However, upon further and more perceptive observation, however, the persona's focus gradually gravitates towards a “father wear[ing] a dirty, oil-soaked monkey suit…and greasy sons assist him”. Here, Bishop hints that that there is more to this “little filling station” than meets the eye. On the surface, the father's “dirty, oil-soaked monkey suit” only seems to further reinforce the station's decrepit state, yet the poet’s careful use of the lexicon of family (“Father” and “son”) evokes a subtle sense of community. This can be...