Analysis of poetic techniques and literary themes

Charles Simic's poem describes the 'false, cruel, and beautiful" modern world, focusing on the immigrant experience in America. His poem from the collection the World Doesn't End, describes a Chinese laundryman who waits for his daughter late at night. The narrator watches him with absolute curiosity, even joy. Fascinated by how close and yet so far away the laundryman seems, the narrator comments on the various cultural elements that at once separate and unite the two individuals. The poet uses symbolism to convey the theme of human interconnectedness. The most notable symbol of the poem is that of the spider and its web.

Language is also a key motif in the poem, and serves both a symbolic and literal purpose. Literally, language is a barrier between the narrator and the Chinese laundryman, and a barrier between the Chinese laundryman and the English-speaking society in which he now lives. For example, the narrator states, "I watched the Chinese laundryman, / Who doesn't read or write in our language, turn the pages of a book left behind by a customer." The narrator romanticizes and fantasizes the what he sees, for he notes that he "wanted it to be a dreambook, or a volume of foolishly sentimental verses." Dreams and sentimental verses, or poetry, tend to be universal languages that can transcend cultural barriers. Therefore, the narrator is more concerned with what unites cultures than what separates them.

The laundryman's daughter is of the younger generation, and probably already speaks English. She "wears short skirts and walks with long strides," two characteristics that denote her break with traditional Chinese gender norms. The narrator notices that the father stopped his ironing and "watches the street" with concern for his daughter, a universal gesture of parental love that also transcends culture.