The Guest Ellen at the Supper for Street People

Hayden Myrick
Jernigan
AP Literature
29 March 2011
“The Guest Ellen at the Supper for Street People”
Author, David Ferry, uses the character of “Ellen” to symbolize women as a whole. Ellen witnesses unspeakably obscene events while not knowing or possessing a way to escape. She feels trapped within her body as a woman; more specifically, her body as a prostitute. The title associates Ellen with “Street People” which relates to the lifestyle of a prostitute. Ellen stays “poor day after day in the same body” and “witness still to some obscene event.” These lines highlight her inability to escape no matter how hard she wants to. Day to day life turns monotonous in its hopelessness and obscenity. Prostitutes seem to always hit rock bottom, and remain at the bottom, unable to climb back up the ladder to self-respect and self-love. Ellen’s beginning a prostitute seems to spawn from an event of sexual abuse involving by “her father’s body.” This event continually plagues her and manifests itself in her day-to-day life as an ongoing acts of sexual disrespect and abuse.
Examining Ellen’s emotions more closely gives insight into the victim of sexual abuse. She feels tormented by her own un-cleanliness. In the fourth stanza, Ellen feels like “A prisoner of love, filthy in her own torment.” The skewed and perverted sense of love her father cursed her with when he abused her affects her more and more daily. She feels like she experienced a sense of “love”, but unclean love. Stanza two gives the guests and Ellen a “Cassandra-like” sense. They continue witnessing and hearing the “obscene events” but cannot do anything about it. Nobody comes to their aid; therefore, they are trapped in the society and lifestyle of Street People.