Summary
In "Living Space," the speaker states that there are just not enough straight lines, presenting this as a problem. There is nothing flat or parallel, and beams crookedly balance on supports thrust off the vertical. Nails clutch at open seams. The entire building leans dangerously towards the miraculous.
In the next brief stanza, the speaker observes that someone has squeezed a living space into this rough frame.
This person has even dared to place eggs in a wire basket. The fragile white curves of the eggs hang out over the dark edge of a slanted universe. The eggs gather the light into themselves as if they are the bright, thin walls of faith.
Analysis
The speaker in the poem "Living Space" shows a lyrical and architectural eye while observing a building in an impoverished area, ultimately suggesting the human resilience that accompanies struggle. In the first section of the poem, the speaker states that "There are just not enough / Straight lines" (Lines 1-2). This complaint, particularly with the word "just," comes across as obsessive, suggesting that the person who says it is locked in a grid. However, the way the rest of the poem unfolds loosens the rigidity of these first lines.
That there are not enough straight lines is defined as "the problem" (Lines 2-3). The speaker continues to describe the directionality of the space's lines, saying that nothing is flat or parallel (Lines 4-5). Up to this point, it is still not explicitly stated that the speaker is referring to a building. While straight lines symbolize order and functionality, it is worth noting that the format of the poem does not reflect the speaker's preference for straight lines. The poem consists of three stanzas of varying length written in free verse. The lines themselves also vary in length.
The image of a building becomes more apparent with the lines "Beams / Balance crookedly on supports / Thrust off the vertical" (Lines 5-7). On a formal level, the plosive alliteration of the "b" sound acts as a support for the lines—as if holding up the solid matter of the building that is taking shape in the poem's imagery. To "balance crookedly" is a contradiction that reveals the haphazard construction. Nails are personified as they "clutch at open seams," signifying that they are not holding things together as they are made to do. (Line 8). The word "open" conveys the vulnerability of the communities that live in these structures.
The entire structure is said to lean "dangerously / Towards the miraculous" (Lines 9-10). Here, the speaker suggests that it is a miracle the structure is still standing, showing an admiration for the tenacity of those living in it. In another instance of form mirroring content, the line "The whole structure leans dangerously" is the longest in the poem—it physically stretches out beyond the rest, embodying visually what it argues verbally (Line 9).
In the following stanza, the poem reads "Into this rough frame, / Someone has squeezed / A living space" (Lines 11-13). The ordering of these lines conveys the prepositional phrase first, keeping the focus on the "rough frame" described in the previous stanza before focusing in on the people that live there. An anonymous inhabitant ("someone") is introduced in the middle line. Often in impoverished living situations, multiple generations live together in small spaces. The verb "squeezed" is suggestive of these crowded conditions and of the difficulty of making life there possible. One meaning of the last line, "A living space," is that the space itself is personified as a being that reflects its inhabitants. This stanza is the shortest in the poem, again formally embodying what it depicts insofar as it is 'squeezed' in between two longer stanzas.
In the third and final stanza, the speaker describes a basket of eggs that someone left in the living space. In doing so, the speaker comments on the inhabitants themselves. On their own, eggs represent the continuation of life both through the possibility of hatching and the nutrition they provide when consumed. The word "dared" implies a courage or defiance in the person who placed the eggs in the basket. The adverb "even" casts the action as unbelievable, reflecting the earlier comment about the building leaning towards the miraculous. This description touches on the idiom of having all of your eggs in a basket, which means to risk all you have on the success or failure of one thing (in this case, life itself).
The detail about the wire basket aligns with the earlier focus on materials. However, it does not specify what type of wire is used, whether the basket is handmade, or how pliable and prone to breakage the basket may be. Instead, the speaker focuses on the contrast between the eggs and the basket: "Fragile curves of white / Hung out over the dark edge" (Lines 16-17). The "dark edge" represents unavoidable risks in impoverished environments (such as the leaning structure itself, capable of falling at any moment). The fragile eggs could topple over the dark edge of the basket at any moment. The "slanted universe" into which the eggs could fall aligns with the earlier descriptions of the leaning structure. The word "slanted" could also refer to information presented or viewed from a particular angle, especially in a biased or unfair way. This alludes to the injustice of a society in which impoverished people live in dangerous living situations.
Keeping in line with the architectural metaphor present throughout the poem, the speaker then uses the eggs to illustrate the inhabitants' resilience by presenting the eggs as houses of faith. The eggs are "Gathering the light / Into themselves," which is a lyrical description for filling oneself with the energy to live, to continue on (Lines 19-20). The light does not just fall onto the eggs, illuminating them from within; the eggs actively gather the light into themselves. This focus on light further develops the architectural eye through which the speaker observes the scene.
The "bright, thin walls of faith" parallel both the structure that these people live in and the very skin of their bodies (Line 22). In both cases, the inhabitants must create a life despite difficult circumstances. This speaks to a resilient nature that the speaker suggests is part of the human design: existing in the space they do demonstrates the resilience of this building's inhabitants. Though Dharker has said that "Living Space" refers to slums in Mumbai, the setting is not mentioned in the poem itself. This makes it universal: everywhere in the world, people must create a living space within difficult circumstances.
