You built your walls too, she tells him. So I have my wall. She says it glittering in a beauty he cannot stand. She with her beautiful clothes with her pale face that laughs at everyone who smiles at her...

Michael Ondaatje
About This Quote

The narrator of the poem “You built your walls too, she tells him. So I have my wall.” is a young man who is not happy with his girlfriend's behavior. He describes her as a woman who has a negative influence over those around her. He says she has "a beauty he cannot stand" and that she laughs at everyone who tries to be nice to her.

The part of the poem that stands out to me the most is the last sentence: She with her beautiful clothes with her pale face that laughs at everyone who smiles at her... The narrator says that his girlfriend has a beauty he cannot stand and that she laughs at everyone who smiles at her. This shows how out of touch with reality the narrator is and how he does not understand why his girlfriend laughed at him after he bought her flowers because it was something so simple and sweet.

Source: The English Patient

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