Until I Fall

Last night, I was on the internet looking for quotes that I would be able to use for a project, when I came across a poem called Until I Fall, by HaliJo Webster. I decided to read the poem because I was having one of those procastination moments, and I just wanted to focus on something else for the time being. As I started reading, I noticed it had a relation with the story A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen. The poem expresses the feeling of oppression towards women in the early 20th century, and how it seems almost impossible for the voice of a female to be heard. No one can hear these women as they scream for their right to be heard as humans. "Not till they fall," as Webster writes, will they finally be heard, but when will that happen? In Ibsen's classic, Nora too is trying to be heard by her husband, Torvold, but with little success. He treats her like his "little play doll," while she wants to become more masculine. For example, she wants to be able to eat as many macaroons as she wants, and be able to swear at Torvold. She acts this way because she too wants to be heard, but she cannot get through to Torvold. Her life has no meaning and no excitement, which is what she is looking for.

A few lines in this poem caught my attention, because I felt it related to a particular incident in the novel. Webster writes, "I shout and no one seems to hear... No one sees me. Not till I fall." Her "fall" occurs when Torvold finds out that Nora borrows money from Krogstad, a man Torvold is not on good terms with, and is threatening a lawsuit because of some errors that had occured in the paperwork. When the incident is settled, Torvold went from being furious with her, to acting as if nothing happened. Nora realizes she needs to become independent. She needs to leave her home and have a fresh start in order to be heard by other people. I feel she is brave for doing this because she is willing to leave everything behind in order to find herself and learn how to become independent. Because she left her husband and children, she is that much determined to find this voice she has wanted. She has grown as a person throughout the story and seems ready to take on the challenges of being alone.

Until I Fall by HaliJo Webster:
http://www.hjwebster.com/poetry/c-opression-women.html