FREE ESSAY ON GETTING OUT BY CLEOPATRA MATHIS

GETTING OUT BY CLEOPATRA MATHIS

No matter what the eyes see, the heart is blind. "Getting Out" by Cleopatra Mathis is a
poem about the trials and tribulations of a failed marriage. The language and the tone
used by the poet describe the range of emotion at the same time the ex-wife is reliving
the experience. This poem's transition occurs when the woman recollects the anger and
sadness of her doomed relationship with a man she misses and once loved.
The language of the poem paints a very clear picture in the readers mind when attempting
to understand the poet's grief. The first two stanzas of the poem are a form of flashback
so that the reader may understand the intensity of the disgust between the couple before
the divorce. "Waking like inmates who beat the walls," is a simile used by the poet to
display the frustration the couple experiences. Using this literary device the poet gives
the reader a mental imagine of the couple trying to escape each other because they can no
longer cope with being in each other's presence. In the depth of night, the husband and
wife would ignore and avoid each other even though in their hearts knew divorce was the
best solution to remedy their problem.
However, in the throughout of day, the harsh words of resentment and hate were freely
spoken between husband and wife. "Heaving words like furniture" portrays that the words
spoken had become so loaded with loathing that the effects of their livid comments left
permanent scars. The husband's efforts to leave are partly to add pain to the already
suffering woman. By using the line from a song, "you gonna miss me when I'm gone" the
poet represents the husbands attitude in the situation.
The first two stanzas are embellished upon with similes so that the reader can easily
understand the animosity in the couple's life. They also serve to create visual images,
so that the reader can conceptualize the couple constant bickering and quarreling. The
reader can also imagine the pair with bags under their eyes from lack of sleep and
stress. The tone of the first two stanzas is reflective, angry and somewhat mocking
towards the ex-husband. The poet says, "think how you tried to pack up and go" indicating
that he never left, but only threatened. The poet mentions this because it displays the
husbands remaining love, and therefore, she ridicules him for it. Apparently the couple
thought that love was enough to make a marriage and did not try hard enough to make the
relationship last.
When the reader reaches the last stanza the change occurs. Here the reader is introduced
to the woman, who has recently been savoring the "last unshredded pictures" of the
herself and her ex-husband. This statement alone tells the reader that, along with
destroying the marriage, they also damaged the memories of their life together. The woman
lets the reader know that the divorce was successful and she now leads an individual life
from her ex who now lives on a "separate side of the map" from her. However, she
remembers the pain it caused her to end her marriage, horrendous as the union was. The
poet writes, "we cried, the last day" indicating that even though both people knew in
their minds that marriage had failed, their hearts were not so quick follow. 
"Getting Out" is cleverly chosen as the title because it tells the reader that the main
purpose of the divorce was to "get out" of a terrible situation. Love was present in the
marriage, just not enough to maintain a stable relationship. Even though the woman may
feel a longing for her ex-husband, she knows that the best decision was to get out of the
relationship before the she began to lose any love she might have remaining for him. She
states finally, "We held on tight, and let go." The couple tried to desperately have a
successful marriage, and hold tight to the love they had, but realized they had to let go
for love was not enough.