A simple analysis of this poem shows that the character is caught in a never ending loop. There is no beginning or ending in a loop, therefor the title "No Exit". Using the hotel as a the actual scenario and not a metaphor, we can make some sense of what is happening in the poem. The character ends up on fourteenth floor, suite number three no matter what path or direction he/she takes. in addition to the freaky twilight occurrence, we can also conclude that the character is baffled and this is affecting his/her common sense because to exit the hotel from floor fourteen he/she would have to go down the stairs and not up.
As i mentioned in our last class about reading a poem backwards can change its meaning. I would like to share this poem with everyone as an example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA
Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 102 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (and to start conversations BEFORE we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing/reading on a weekly basis in an informal forum. You are required to write AT LEAST two paragraphs a week (in one or more postings).
Great assessment on the poem, so I revisited it after reading your post, and something dawned on me. Most buildings don't have a "13th floor" listed on the elevator, since it's considered bad luck. Therefore the 14th floor is really the 13th floor, which is where the character is trapped in. Crazy, huh? This to me adds to the whole nightmarish intrigue that the work possesses, really giving it a supernatural feel. I also followed your link to the youtube video for "Lost Generation" and was blown away by the dual meaning the piece had. How a poem that when read from beginning to end was negative, turned into an extremely positive message when read in reverse is truly amazing. How did you discover this poem?
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