The Applicant is a poem explores the meaning of marriage, gender stereotype and social pressures by using an interview, in which the speaker (a woman) questions the applicant, a male. The male interviewee is being given the chance to own something, it is a wife. The wife is a commodity, a thing of the market-place, and the applicant has to be the right sort of person to receive her. It questions hardly sarcastic way that a woman should be treated like a domestic thing, ready to do whatever her husband needs her to do.
Stanza 1
First, are you our sort of a person?
Do you wear
A glass eye, false teeth or a crutch,
A brace or a hook,
Rubber breasts or a rubber crotch,
The first line is a question, which is fitting and quite straightforward and logical. It soon becomes clear that this is not an ordinary interview. The author mentions several body parts that seem fake and can be categorized as belonging to women. In this stanza, the author seems to ask for clarity from the applicant himself regarding a woman who seems to belong to him.
Stanza 2
Stitches to show something's missing? No, no? Then
How can we give you a thing?
Stop crying.
Open your hand.
Empty? Empty. Here is a hand
It seems the applicant has nothing missing. Because the male applicant is complete, he might not be suitable in implying that they won't be able to give him anything. The author seems to be a little condescending to the applicant who is a man. She wrote the story that the man was crying because he was unable to meet the requirements for getting a woman which is incomplete soul. It can reflect that in a man's life, he will always need a woman. At the end of the stanza, it is said that the woman gave her hand. In this case, women are depicted as strong figures who can balance men and give fullness to the soul of men. This is closely related to the balanced role of men and women. From this stanza, we can see that women are actually capable of being more involved than men. For this reason, women should be willing to empower these inner strengths in order to get a better place in society.
Stanza 3
To fill it and willing
To bring teacups and roll away headaches
And do whatever you tell it.
Will you marry it?
It is guaranteed
Now the hands are joined together - just as in marriage - but the woman's hand does more than just fill the empty hand of the man. It will bring teacups, that most English of items, and get rid of headaches and most other things. The question is: Is this a disembodied hand? Image-wise it could well be. Or is it attached to a woman? It's certainly a metaphor for all that is domestic in the ideal married life. The hand of the subservient woman, the wife at the beck and call of the would-be husband. And here comes the first of three repeated lines - Will you marry it? The emphasis is on that little impersonal pronoun 'it'. The woman is objectified, partly dehumanised. And the language is related to the market and commercialism - guaranteed.
Stanza 4
To thumb shut your eyes at the end
And dissolve of sorrow.
We make new stock from the salt.
I notice you are stark naked.
How about this suit——
That same hand, that same woman, will be with the man even when he dies, (‘til death do us part) and then dissolve of sorrow. The implication is that the woman's life also ends with the man's death, she will be so distraught that she'll disappear in a pool of her own tears. The reference 'We' must mean the company the speaker represents, which is also the society at large. The 'new stock' is either the goods being refreshed, newly made, or is capital - it could also mean stock as used in cooking. The 'salt' might come from the dried tears; unless it's the salt of the earth, the ordinary woman on the street.
Stanza 5
Black and stiff, but not a bad fit.
Will you marry it?
It is waterproof, shatterproof, proof
Against fire and bombs through the roof.
Believe me, they'll bury you in it.
The applicant, the male, is naked, just like Adam in the Old Testament. He is offered a black suit and asked if he wants to marry it. Again. This is the second time. Again, there is no answer. There is never an answer. This suit is protection against all disaster, it's like a suit of armour, it's a metaphorical power-suit fit for the right person. It's so important it'll go with the applicant to the grave. Besides, women are only described as a stiff for a man. It serves to protect him from things that can cause him trouble. In this stanza, it is said that stiff is waterproof. It means, despite being submissive, women turn out to be very strong figures when facing many problems. Sadly, she is only objectified as a protector.
Stanza 6
Now your head, excuse me, is empty.
I have the ticket for that.
Come here, sweetie, out of the closet.
Well, what do you think of that?
Naked as paper to start
Onto the applicant's head, brain, mind, which is empty, like the previous hand. With a condescending 'sweetie' out of the closet comes forth the woman. This woman, a paper image, that is, like a blank sheet, ready for anything, doesn't get to say a word. In this respect she is one wit the applicant who likewise has no voice. The speaker is the sole voice, he's got what he wants at his fingertips, seems to have an answer for everything. The enjambment now ends and the reader has to pause at each end line which, with the addition of more punctuation, slows things down.
Stanza 7
But in twenty-five years she'll be silver,
In fifty, gold.
A living doll, everywhere you look.
It can sew, it can cook,
It can talk, talk, talk.
The woman may be a blank sheet now but over time she'll change value. More like go up in value, like some asset. Not only that she'll be your living doll, defined as a helpless, docile person, a plaything. Perhaps there is some suggestion of a sexual object here. Domestically this woman, doll, wife, has all the skills. And of course, 'it' goes on talking. Note the recurrent three (talk, talk, talk).
Stanza 8
It works, there is nothing wrong with it.
You have a hole, it's a poultice.
You have an eye, it's an image.
My boy, it's your last resort.
Will you marry it, marry it, marry it.
The last paragraph describes the freedom given to men to choose. Again, men are described as someone who has a deficiency, namely a hole like the hoof of a horse (poultice). For that, it is certain that a man will need and marry a woman to complete his soul.
The Applicant, a free verse poem, has 8 stanzas, 40 lines in total, each stanza being a quintain (5 lines).
Rhyme
There is no fixed, regular rhyme scheme but there is a mix of perfect, full and near rhymes in each stanza. This on-off rhyming brings a certain dissonance and monotony (with the repeats) which reflects the odd situation.
Stanza 1: crutch/crotch
Stanza 2: thing/crying + hand x2
Stanza 3: it x2
Stanza 4: salt/suit
Stanza 5: fit/it/it + proof/roof
Stanza 6: that x2 + closet/start
Stanza 7: look/cook/talk
Stanza 8: it x2
Enjambment
Six out of the eight stanzas have lines that run on to the next to maintain sense and commit the reader to the flow. The final two stanzas have lines that are stopped or paused by punctuation, bringing the poem to a steady shuddering series of repeats and sharp short bursts.
Alliteration
Alliterative phrases and words bring a certain energy to some lines and add interest for the reader:
Stitches to show something's.
Here is a hand
it can cook.
Metre (meter in American English)
There is no set, rhythmic pattern in the poem. It isn't needed. The lines are conversational and offer a mixed bag of poetical feet.
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