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On the subway by sharon olds analysis
Introduction to poetry analysis
Introduction to poetry analysis
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Opposite Side of the Tracks In the poem “On the Subway”, Sharon Olds explores the perspective of a white woman throughout the woman's trip on a subway seated across a black male. In the poem, several insights are addressed by the woman. Diction, imagery, and metaphors are used to bring to life the thought process of the woman. Sharon highlights the contrasts between the boy and the woman in regards to their appearances and their place in society in the woman's vids. The main differences were seen using opposing colors: black and white to frame a theme of light and darkness. “We are stuck on opposite sides of the car, a couple of molecules stuck in a rod of light rapidly moving through darkness.” (4-6). The use of light and dark are an alternative …show more content…
For example, “...the way he absorbs the murderous beams of the nation's heart.” (25). The word “murderous” is extreme and refers to the negative actions inflicted by Americans even as far back as when slavery was legal. The woman also seems to realize that without any intentions, it is natural for people to act this way towards black people. “And he is black, and I am white, and without meaning or trying to I must profit from his darkness,” (21-23). The woman examines this mindset and comes to the conclusion that is actually how society is set up. It appears that profiting off of minorities is considered normal. “The rod of his soul that at birth was dark fluid and rich as the heart of a seedling ready to thrust up into any available light.” (33 - 35). This suggests that the boy was born into this predicament and despite having the ability to progress and “grow” like a seedling, he's suppressed as there is no light to allow freedom. Overall, the woman has had many insights as she compared herself to the boy that she sat across from. Born of two different races, their lives were bound to a certain track that is hard to move out of as it is imprinted into
In this poem, “On the Subway”, written by Sharon Olds brings two worlds into proximity. We will identify the contrast that develops both portraits in the poem and discuss the insights the narrator comes to because of the experience. The author refers to several literary techniques as tone, poetic devices, imagery, and organization. The poem talks about a historical view based on black and white skin. It positions the two worlds the point of view of a black skinned and a white skinned. The boy is described as having a casual cold look for a mugger and alert under the hooded lids. On the other hand, based on his appearance the white skinned person felt threatened by the black boy. She was frightened that he could take her coat, brief case, and
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
In conclusion, this book helps to understand what it is like to be someone who is different. Michaela kept working hard even when everything was against her and because of that she achieved her dreams. This book shows young people that they can do whatever they put the mind to no matter their race or
In the part "The Breaking Process Of The African Woman" Lynch describes of ways to destroy the male image of the Black man so the Black Woman herself will become independent and she will raise her offspring in reversed roles. That means the Mother will make the son mentally weak, dependent, but physically strong so that he will not have the same fate as the male image that was once there, next she will raise he daughter to be psychologically independent.
Despite the current scrutiny that her race faces she asserts to the reader that her race and color define her as a person and does not determine her identity. Despite the mindset that most of her peers keep about the inequality of race, she maintains an open mind and declares to the reader that she finds everyone equal. Thus proving herself as a person ahead of her own time.
That’s why folks don’t never go out there” (Faulkner 53). Joanna carries the burden, echoed by her last name, of her forefathers’ beliefs and is unable to escape the shadow of the racial injustices visited upon black people. Her father tells her the curse is “yours, even though you are a child. The curse of every white child that ever was born and that ever will be born. None can escape it” (252-253). It is her duty to contribute toward the advancement of black people. The curse is the black man’s shadow; she says to Joe Christmas, her lover, “I thought of all the children coming forever and ever into the world, white, with the black shadow already falling upon them before they drew breath” (Faulkner 253). This evokes the idea that she, and all other white people, cannot escape the wrongs of their ancestors. The shadow will follow her and haunt her constantly reminding her of her heritage of racial radicalism and she can truly never escape it, but it is not just the shadow of black people, she is also haunted by the murder of her half-brother and grandfather. It is not just her, it permeates that very
She refers to recent times, like with the Emancipation Proclamation, where people realized that white men were no better than black men, or black men no better than white men. Not only does her comparison to recent events help to provide a context of how bad the situation with women has become, it reminds her audience of all of the fighting, pain and rebellion that went along with the African Americans gaining their freedom, establishing a sense of pathos in her audience. She states, “An oligarchy of learning, where the educated govern the ignorant, or even an oligarchy of race, where the Saxon rules the African, might be endured…” After Anthony surfaces the topic of the African American, she reminds her audience that all of that can be endured, that it’s sufferable. If the African Americans were being treated horribly, but even that was better than how women are being treated at that time, she goes to show how bad it really was. To add, Anthony later says, “...this oligarchy of sex, which makes father, brothers, husband, sons the oligarchs over mothers and sisters, the wife and daughters of every household-- which ordains all men sovereigns, all women subject, carries dissension, discord and rebellion into every home in the nation.” Hearing of this inequality in the equation of everyday life inspires emotion in
In the narrative, “New York Day Woman” by Edwidge Danticat, a woman spends the afternoon following her mother around New York City, learning new things about her in the process. One of the constant themes throughout the piece was the interpersonal conflict between people of varying cultures and generations.
After reading this passage wonderfully written by Audre Lorde, I believe it's about two things. Racism. The belief in the inherent superiority of one race over all others and thereby the right to dominance, manifest and implied, and also how women respond to racism, in which she defines her response as " My response to racism is anger."
She brilliantly conveys this message by incorporating the theme of self-liberation in both stories, while contrasting the means by which each character achieves freedom. By creating two stories that both compare and contrast, the author presents the choice between two roads to freedom. How will women redefine the behaviors that are expected of them and liberate themselves from oppression? The challenge comes in breaking the cycle of revenge, choosing the freedom of forgiveness over the captivity of resentment, and crossing the border into true
The creator dives profound into the thought of God and shows America as being very nearly at the purpose of social and cash based breakdown. The reason is straightforward: individuals make defenseless even with enormous organizations. Individuals must attempt to accomplish control after they completely bear their individual social obligations. In this manner, she and other dark individuals take off to North accepting it to their last/absolute best sheltered spot.
She then stated that her “Children sold away from me, I’m husband sold, too.” The mood of this line is painful because as a mother you cannot conceal your pain as your children and husband are taken away from you and sold to some other place. This shows the true and deep hardships that the speaker had to go through in this overwhelming time of her life. As a result, the speaker stated that there was “no safety, no love, no respect.” You can tell that when this troubling event happened to the speaker, she knew that there was no respect for her as a women and mother. It then goes on to show that as a slave, you were treated as if you had no existence left and that they did not care if they took your most precious belongs that has sentimental values to you as a human being. But towards the middle of the poem, there was a shift in tone to a more encouraging and optimistic tone. In this case, the diction also changes in the poem to words like “torch of tomorrow”, “a road to the light”, and “out of the darkness.” By changing the diction from the beginning to the end, the speaker wants to tell the future African American Children of today that there is hope and
In “On the Subway,” Sharon Olds describes an encounter between a white woman and a black man. The way she describes the experience made it seem strange, rare even. Through the use of imagery, Olds conveyed the unsteadiness of the lady. She goes from the way they dressed, to stereotypical differences, to perception of one another. This grasps the poet's deliberate choice of organization. The combination of these literary techniques allowed the writer to contrast the two distinct characters.
Life as we most likely know it has constantly come to strife in light of the acknowledgment among races and their accomplices. In the lyric "On the Metro", Sharon Olds layout the serious time Caucasians and African-Americans involvement in this present reality. The inventive writer uses diverse abstract gadgets, symbolism and tone, to separate and develop the varieties between the two social orders by and large.
Racism has been a major part of America’s historical narrative and is apparent in not only current media but in literature from a century ago. W.E.B. Du Bois’ vignette, “Of the Passing of the First Born” is written about W.E.B. Du Bois’ infant son that passed away, and the struggle to decide where to lay his son to eternal rest in a place that would accept and love him, even though he was black. Similarly, Kate Chopin’s “Desirée’s Baby”, reflects upon the discrimination that a husband, Armand, shows towards his wife, Desirée, and their newborn child after he becomes convinced that they are from African descendance. Armand is proven wrong when he reads a letter explaining that he was, in fact, the one with an African lineage not his wife; however, this news has come too late as his wife has already taken her own life after being