Clothes (Symbol)
The only physical marker given to describe the woman is her clothing. Line 1 states her “clothes are out of date.” This brief description has multiple symbolic meanings. First, it symbolizes that the woman is not, or is no longer, in touch with the world of fashion. Since the poem is told from the limited third-person perspective (in that it is narrated in the third person but is tailored to the woman’s perspective and is not omniscient), the reader can infer that the woman once cared about the style of her clothing, but now must wear clothes that are “out of date” due to necessity or other external circumstances. This sense of the woman being dissatisfied with her style or appearance is amplified when she notes that her former lover’s head is “neat,” contrasting with her own out-of-date clothing. Second, the out-of-date clothes symbolize the women’s regret and desire to return to the past, before her children had “eaten” away at her vivacity and independence. The “out of date” clothes indicate that she was once fashionable, before the demands of motherhood turned her attention away from fashion. This interpretation is supported by the detail that her children “tug her skirt,” symbolically tugging at her former identity and establishing the connection between the woman’s clothes and her role as a mother.
The Lover (Symbol)
The lover is not only a character in the poem but a symbol, both of the woman’s past and of societal expectations. He is briefly described, given only the epithet “someone she loved once,” establishing him as a representation of the past (Line 2). The lover invokes feelings of regret in the woman by reminding her of her life before motherhood—as they acknowledge in their conversation, “time holds great surprises,” heightening the lover’s symbolic role as part of the woman’s past life before she became a mother and implying that there is a stark contrast between these past and present situations. Additionally, the lover symbolizes society's view, particularly in the 1960s when the poem was published, that all women are suited for and naturally enjoy motherhood. Although the mother imagines that her lover pities her, he leaves their conversation with a “smile,” signaling that he does not perceive her distress. The fact that the woman thinks her lover pities her and imagines him thanking God that he is not in her position, also demonstrates the starkly different roles for men and women in society. Men were not expected to face the intense demands of raising a child, so the lover contrasts his own situation with the woman’s. But for “the grace of God,” or the fact of being born a particular gender, the man would also be in the woman’s position.
The Park (Symbol)
The poem is titled “In the Park,” highlighting the symbolic significance of the setting. Since the woman is in a park, she is in a public place—but she is still isolated. Women’s access to public places has long been contested, as women were traditionally seen as belonging to the domestic sphere. They were confined to the home, while men were situated in businesses and other public places. Symbolizing this divide, a park is an innocuous place where women can take their children, but it contrasts with a place of business, a courtroom, a university; places where only men were welcome in the 1960s. A park, as a place where people can relax and children can play, is also typically associated with happy, leisured subjects and themes. The park in the poem symbolizes the pain that can underlie these seemingly happy experiences—the woman fakes a smile when conversing with her lover, as if she is enjoying a typical, sunny day “in the park,” but internally she is distraught over the monotony and struggle of her life as a mother.
Nursing a Child (Symbol)
In Lines 12 and 13, the mother is “nursing / the youngest child” and “sits staring at her feet.” The final line lends symbolism to this act of breastfeeding the child—the mother bitterly states that her children have “eaten [her] alive.” Accordingly, breastfeeding symbolizes the intense demands that children make on their mothers. While her youngest child is literally breastfeeding, each of her children is symbolically draining away the woman’s energy, identity, and life. The all-consuming demands of motherhood have sapped at or “eaten away” the woman’s former identity, hinted at through the conversation with her lover. The final line therefore creates an ironic symbol that contrasts with a reader’s preconceived associations in the 1960s that breastfeeding symbolizes the deep connection and love between a mother and child.
The Wind (Symbol)
Line 14 reads: “To the wind she says, 'They have eaten me alive.’” The wind in this line is personified as a listener to the mother’s true feelings; accordingly, it symbolizes the woman’s inability to confess her frustrations and struggles to real people, implying that she feels trapped by societal expectations. When conversing with her lover, the woman proclaims that it is “so sweet” to raise children and “watch them grow and thrive.” This “sweet[ness]” is directly contrasted with the bitter statement that the children have actually “eaten [her] alive.” As such, the wind is a symbolic opposite to the lover—while the lover represents all of the artificial expectations and constraints of society, the wind represents nature and, to an extent, truth. Harwood could have selected another inanimate listener for the mother’s confession, such as the park bench or the flickering lights, but deliberately chose the wind, perhaps for its connection to nature as opposed to society. Finally, wind is constantly moving and changing, implying that the woman hopes her confession—and her true feelings—will be “carried away” with the wind. She is only comfortable stating her true feelings to a personified listener that cannot respond and will continuously move away, carrying with it the dark truth of her confession.
