Dissecting Inequality in American Democracy: A Poetry Analysis

Poetry Analysis Essay

The United States of America is known for the equality that is provided, on the surface, however not every person is actually equal to another. In Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes written by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Ferlinghetti describes a scenario that seamlessly displays the differences between people in American societies. There are two scavengers which are garbage men that are on their way home, and two beautiful people, on their way to their architect’s office. The garbage men’s day ends but the young couple’s is only beginning. Ferlinghetti compares the two pairs in detail, then seems to ask at the end of the poem whether America really is a “democracy”. The comparisons show how the idea that the democracy of the U.S.A (United States of America) is believed that each and every person is to be equal, but under the surface that Ferlinghetti has provided the differences are easily discovered. The groups who are not of equal status perfectly show that the democracy that America takes pride in does not really fulfill the dream illustrated.

Ferlinghetti uses vivid language to prove his point that the

“democracy” provided by America is not as perfect as it was made out to be. The title shows straight away that the poem will be about the contrasts between two pairs of people. “Scavengers” is a derogatory term for the garbage men because it suggests that they live off the rubbish of others, basically comparing the garbage men to a scavenger beetle which lives off rotting flesh. The elegant couple is representing the upper middle to upper class of America, shown when the man is said that he has an expensive “hip three-piece linen suit” (line 11), while her blond hair is “casually coifed” (line 13). On the other hand, the garbage men are “grungy” (line 17). The older garbage man has a hunched back and looks “like some gargoyle Quasimodo” (line 22). The description of the older garbage man seems harsh and places the garbage man to be lower than the couple. The younger one has “sunglasses & long hair” (line 24) just like the “Mercedes driver”. The garbage men in the poem represent the working class or the lower class of America. Furthermore, Ferlinghetti states, “across that small gulf in the high seas of this democracy” (lines 35-37). This shows that despite the fact that they are next to each other, they are so different and far apart.
In the form of a poem Lawrence Ferlinghetti describes the upsetting truth that not everyone is equal in a democracy. The way Ferlinghetti uses the phrase “And the very red light for an instant/ holding all four close together/ as if anything at all were possible” unleashes the disturbing truth that the “American Dream” , illustrated by the democracy of the United States of America, is nearly impossible for a decent amount of people in America. Ferlinghetti believes that the democracy of the U.S.A is untruthful and made people believe that everyone was actually equal. Ferlinghetti argues that the democracy of the United States is actually divided among two main groups, those who struggle to achieve and others who seem to go beyond and achieve the “American Dream.” This would mean that America is not really the democracy that the people of America hoped and wished for. The people of America, whether they know it or not, are divided because of their ways of life. Ferlinghetti shows that the people who are struggling to achieve really want to live the dream, however because of the fallacy made by the American democracy they have to lie unequal to those who do live the dream.
In the poem Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes written by Lawrence Ferlinghetti there are two groups introduced, the Scavengers and the Elegant, through the tale of the two groups’ encounter democracy’s promises are questioned.

In the beginning the two groups are “one” because they are both stopped by a red traffic light, as the poem goes on Ferlinghetti points out specific differences between the two groups that are very important to Ferlinghetti’s purpose of the poem. The poem diverges into why the democracy built by America is false and the saying that everyone is equal is disproved completely by the poem. Ferlinghetti’s meaning of the poem is to disprove the belief that America is a democracy and has created an argument that is recognizable by people of all statures and

status.