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One’s Individuality Lost: The Art of Being Invisible in “Aluminum Folding Chairs” by John Engman

In John Engman’s poem “Aluminum Folding Chairs”, the narrator masters the art of being invisible after realizing that all of the members of his therapy session aren’t really listening to him, and because of that he’s allowed to go through the motions of saying what’s expected of him, playing the act that he is listening, and even saying things out of the ordinary without a blink of an eye from those to which he’s speaking. It shows the lack of individuality in not only his work, but also work life in general, because neither his true voice nor his true thoughts come through in his work.

The poem shows through the eyes of the narrator how the individuality is lost more and more as he leads each session. He was able to nod in the right places and say the things that were ...

Posted by: Rebecca Wyant

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