The Speaker
In "Living Space," the speaker is someone observing impoverished living conditions. In the first lines of the poem, the speaker criticizes the dangerous aspects of the building; later in the poem, the speaker marvels at the tenacity of those who live there. This makes it clear that this speaker is an outsider to these impoverished conditions, and is only taking on the role of the observer.
The Inhabitant(s)
The inhabitant(s) of the building are evoked when the speaker says, "Into this rough frame, / Someone has squeezed / A living space" (Lines 11-13). This inserts life into the structure, just as the metaphor with the eggs turns the eggs into a place of "faith." Words in the poem such as "clutch," "squeezed," "miraculous," "fragile," and "faith" suggest struggle and resilience. The inhabitants of the building are evoked in their absence through descriptions of the structure in which they live and the sign of life (the eggs) that they left behind.
The Eggs
The eggs play an important role in the poem. On their own, eggs represent the continuation of life both through the possibility of hatching and the nutrition they provide when consumed. Placed in a wire basket by the building's inhabitants, the eggs are then compared to houses of faith. They gather the light into their bright thin walls, thus working to symbolize the inhabitants themselves.
