How Does Sharon Olds Use Imagery In On The Subway

In “On the Subway” by Sharon Olds, the author contrasts two divergent people. Olds come to many conclusions as a result of the experience. Sharon Olds utilizes tone, poetic devices such as metaphor, and finally imagery. First of all, Sharon Olds is describing an occurrence on the subway. The speaker of the poem is facing another person, a boy. The speaker’s tone can be described as somewhat petrified or cautious. For example, the speaker says, “He could take my coat so easily, my briefcase, my life.” There she says how the boy she is facing could possibly try to rob her of something she possesses. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker recounts the boy as possessing the “look of a mugger” and that illustrates the speaker’s negative interpretation of the person across from her. In the end, the narrator

While on the subway, the speaker is sitting on the opposite side of the car, facing the boy. The speaker utilizes imagery in this line, “He has the casual look of a mugger, alert under hooded lids. He is wearing red, like the inside of the body exposed. I am wearing dark for fur, the whole skin of an animal taken and used.” This imagery appeals to the audience by the sense of sight. The speaker is depicting the boy’s appearance as well as her own. She does this to contrast the differences between his raw appearance and her opulent appearance. She wants to elucidate that he looks treacherous while she looks like she could be the victim of a burglary. All of the imagery in the rest of the poem serves to describe the variations between the boy and herself.

In conclusion, the poem “On the Subway” by Sharon Olds discusses the insights of a woman on a subway. The woman feels somewhat threatened by the boy sitting across her. The author of the poem utilizes tone, metaphor, and imagery to give prominence to the contrasts between the man and