Alice’s Office Window Symbol Analysis

As a tenured professor at Harvard University, Alice enjoys the privilege of having an office with a large window that offers her a stunning view of the Charles River and surrounding area. Alice’s office window symbolizes all that she’s accomplished and her distinguished position at Harvard. Before being given an office with a window, Alice worked in the interior of William James Hall, with no window and no link to the outside world. As a result, Alice often inadvertently worked late into the night without realizing it had even gotten dark. With tenure, however, came an office with a window that gives Alice “a healthy awareness of life outside Harvard.” Furthermore, it is a constant reminder to her that she no longer needs to spend long hours into the dead of night working because she has achieved tenure, a monumental milestone for any academic. Her work has paid off, and with the “healthy awareness” of what’s going on outside comes the added bonus of knowing that she is now afforded greater freedom to take time off to enjoy life off campus, as well. However, when Alice’s Alzheimer’s forces her to step down from teaching and researching, her office window’s ability to reminder her of all she accomplished becomes a source of pain. Alice slowly stops spending time looking out her office window as her condition gets worse—she soon forgets that she had a distinguished career, let alone an office with a window, at all.