Two Scavengers in a Truck,Two Beautiful People in Mercedes and Nothings Changed Compare and contrast of two poems from different cultures- ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two beautiful People in Mercedes’ and ‘Nothings Changed’. ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in Mercedes’ by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, is a poem about four very different people brought together by traffic lights turning red. The poet is protesting against the inequalities within a democracy. ‘Nothings Changed’ by Tatamkhulu Afrika, is a poem which is also protesting, but about the way black people are treated in a place where the poet used to live, in District Six, in South Africa, where apartheid took place. In the poem ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in Mercedes’, the poet compares four people. The four people are brought together by the traffic light turning red. The poem is set in downtown San Francisco at 9 O’clock in the morning. First he describes the two garbage men in their truck. He compares them with a very elegant couple in their Mercedes, who have a very different lifestyle. The poet describes the two garbage men as- ‘two scavengers up since four a.m. grungy from their route’ This phrase creates the image of vultures swooping around San Francisco early while everyone is asleep, because vultures are often described as scavengers. The word ‘grungy’ also makes it clear to the reader that the garbage men are dirty and grubby. The writer tells us that the garbage men have been up since four a.m. This tells us that they are hard workers. In contrast, the poet describes the couple in the Mercedes as- ‘The man in a hip three piece linen suit with shoulder length blond hair and sun... ... middle of paper ... ...manner, and the writer clearly wants to make himself heard. The poet, Tatamkhulu Afrika also talks about his own personal experiences, but on the other hand Lawrence Ferlinghetti, just writes about people he might have seen on the street. I personally preferred ‘Nothings Changed’ by Tatamkhulu Afrika, although I really liked ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in Mercedes’ by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, I thought ‘Nothings Changed’ was more thought provoking and I think I learnt more about the poet from it, because he was not afraid to express his feelings and opinions. However, I agree with both of the poets on their opinions. I think that everyone should be treated equally and no one should be made to feel like they are worse than someone else, just because they do not have a sophisticated car or because they are a different race or colour.
The bus was full of people with only one black person and he was smiling and polite he was still viewed as an outsider “I was embarrassed by him” (Andre Levy 691) she was just like him but felt embarrassed by him because he was like an alien to the others. The author talks about how she came to london from the caribbean “that made my family very odd. We were immigrants. Outsiders.” (Andrea Levy 692) living in london at that time and not being white instantly made you an outsider. “On one occasion my mom did not have enough money to buy food for our dinner. None at all. She worried that she might be forced into the humiliation of asking someone…..” (Andrea Levy 693) in the caribbean there family was middle class but in london they were poor. The effect the british colonization even made her family be ashamed of other caribbeans and isolated themselves from other black caribbeans and wanted nothing to do with them. This brainwashed the author she even says “in my efforts to be as british as i could be, i was completely indifferent to jamaica. None of my friends knew anything about the caribbean. They didn't know where it was, or who lived there, or why. And they had no curiosity about it beyond asking why black people were in this country. It was too foreign and therefore not worth knowing.” (Andrea Levy 694) the author grew up thinking that white people were superior and wanted to fit in which meant abandoning her true self and dropping her cultures and beliefs just to be accepted. The author later gets a wakeup call when she was working part time for a sex-education project for young people “one day the staff had to take part in a racism awareness course. We were asked to split into two groups, black and white. I walked over to the white side the room. It was, ironically where i felt most at
Staples, Brent. “Black Men and Public Space.” Reading Critically, Writing Well. Sixth edition Eds. Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 134-136. Print.
Then, in the play, Wilson looks at the unpleasant expense and widespread meanings of the violent urban environment in which numerous African Americans existed th...
The books we read in Creative Writing are Slaughterhouse-Five and The Things They Carried. Slaughterhouse-Five was written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1969 and The Things They Carried was written by Tim O’Brien in 1990. The Things They Carried and Slaughterhouse-Five are two examples of anti-war literature. Slaughterhouse-Five is a story describing the time traveling between periods of time in Billie’s life. Billie is an American prisoner in the Dresden, Germany. The Things They Carried is a journal of the events that occurred in the Vietnam War that the author writes from the Alpha Company. These two stories are similar and different in their description of the horrors of war. They are classic anti-war books. The two books are successful in blending fiction and nonfiction items to demonstrate dreamlike and unbelievable descriptions that give a complete picture of war.
According to Kilgore Trout, automobiles are the only enemy for human beings. They destroy the peaceful, moist and nourishing blue-green balls in the earthling planet.
The African Americans fought hard to make themselves equal to the whites, some of the leaders for this were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X who spoke on behave of their people to try and fight through racism so that it can end. Unlike the African Americans, the Jewish people listened to the Germans, they followed all of their rules to stay alive because they were in a more life threatening situation; neither races deserved the treatment that they received. The racial differences, mistreatment of humans, and injustices between these two stories are similar but different, both authors tried their best to explain as much as they could on what they were personally experiencing or even telling a story on someone else’s experience, but no matter what in the end we are all equal
John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, uses dehumanized "Okies" and personified cars to aid in the explanation of hardships of making it in a new society and how in order to survive, change must take place. Steinbeck’s novel portrays a family as they struggle in the heartless world. Both the usage of dehumanized workers and personified cars helps portray the deep fear and uncertainty the migrant workers began facing. By using figurative language, Steinbeck captures the general endeavor all the Okies who were unwillingly labeled as one class: scum. Ultimately, each willing family tossed aside their past, surrendering to their new foreign life.
A street car named desire leads its self to feminist criticism due to the very distinct gender roles in which a male dominance prevails. The play reveals the victimization of two women Stella Kowalski and Blanche DuBois who are consistently overpowered by Stella’s husband Stanley and society’s norms. Blanche is a beautiful woman who struggles to live up to her expectations as a southern belle and shows many signs of mental instability due to the death of her young husband many years ago. While Stella on the other hand married an abusive husband whose relationship with her is a rollercoaster of excitement and disappointment. Southern Society perceived the ideal woman as one who followed the ways of the Virgin Mary, staying pure until marriage and tending to their husbands every whim. However in street car the women are treated more like slaves having to cooking and cleaning to please Stanley with no recognition for their hard work. In animal farm the pigs reward the animals for their hard word determination to build the working on the windmill and their bravery in the battle of the cowshed. Even before Blanche arrival she resorts to prostitution after the loss of her job which in society’s eyes made her unworthy of marriage. The living conditions were very poor with three people living in a cramped apartment that consisted of only two rooms. With only a sheet separating the bed room from the kitchen there was little privacy for the women to change and pamper themselves in without being disturbed. The pigs on the other hand had a
“A Street Car Named Desire” is a critically acclaimed play by Tennessee Williams, which emphasizes the sexual desire and tension between characters Blanche Dubois, Stanley Kowalski, Stella Kowalski and Harold Mitchell. Throughout the play, Blanche is so nervous and on edge that a slight disturbance could shatter her sanity. However, Blanches ambition for love and “magic” is what truly affects the other characters in the play and cements the idea that Blanche is a proper lunatic. A street car named desire not only focuses on tense family relationships present in the play but as well as the affects of insanity caused by an individual ambition, which in this case is the desire for love through the protagonist Blanche Dubois. In the play “ A street car named desire” by Tennessee Williams, Williams creates the idea that Blanche’s crazed ambition for “magic” and love is impossible because of her destitute and unforgettable past and her ambition for love leads to her own collapse and downfall.
Many novels have been adapted into films. It gives the readers a solid picture rather than leaving it up to their imagination. One very famous example of this is The Hunger Games series. The iconic novel written by Suzanne Collins follows Katniss, a girl who volunteered to be in the brutal killing competition her country puts on every year called The Hunger Games. The series consists of three novels, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. It also consists of four movies The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1 and Mockingjay Part 2. As in any novel that becomes a movie some things are changed. Some scenes are taken out, some are added in, and some are altered from the novel. One scene that is taken out of the movie, is when the mayor’s daughter Madge gives Katniss the mockingjay pin that
No technology has had a greater impact on the American life than the automobile. Where we live, how we work, and how we travel, what our landscape looks like, our environment have all been shaped by the automobile. There isn’t a better place that demonstrates the social, geographic, and political changes brought by the industry than Detroit, the motor city. Detroit was situated to be a center of the American automobile industry. All of the material that was needed to build was easily accessible to the city by the great lakes waterways and by rail. The automobile industry helped people with their everyday lives and changed the way people saw the world.
Unlike the earlier era, in which they had received freedom but it was so new to them, and they truly didn’t understand what it meant to be a free group, they began to move into a time period where they were finding their voice, and “finding their freedom”. Instead of writing about becoming free, and wanting freedom, they begin to act free. They begin to prove they were free by giving off confident in their culture and in their work. In her writing she has many different subsections where she rebuttals the ideas pushed onto the African American race. She proves the stereotypes wrong using the truth. The first example is, under the section titled “originality” she wrote, “it has been said so often that the negro is lacking in originality that has almost become a gospel. Outward signs seem to bear this out. But if one looks closely its falsity is immediately evident.” and , “So if we look at it squarely, the Negro is a very original being. While he lives and moves in the midst of a white civilian, everything that he touches is re-interpreted for his own use. He has modified the language, mode of food preparation, practice of medicine, and most certainly the religion of his new country, just as he adapted to suit himself the sheik haircut made famous by Rudolph Valentino.” this passage shows how much she believes in her race. She isn’t asking for anything from anyone. She doesn’t beg for respect, acceptance, or freedom, she is telling them to treat them like they are free. This passage really exemplifies the theme of accepting themselves and their culture during this time period. The African Americans were able to begin to stand up for themselves and up against the falsely acclaimed stereotypes that have been made against them. During this time period they were recreating the culture that had been taken away from them. They were finding their voice through
“Hal awoke one day the fact that his dog-food was half gone, and the distance of only a quarter covered.” Jack London had many adventures in his life. One of those adventures was writing many novels. In one of his famous books, “Call of The Wild” Jack London shows Mercedes and Hal as having different perspectives on how humans view work animals.
Author brings alive plentiful of images “whatever race you be” (10), “black or white” (9), in one world all should be shared and treated equally. Other images describe the beauty and purity of the new dream world: “peace its paths adorn” (4), no more of ‘greed sapping the soul’, and the ‘loving and joyful earth’. By drawing an image the ‘sapping of soul’ and the ‘avarice blighting our day’ author elicits graphic imagery, to bring on the repulsive feelings, as those are characteristic that stain us all, “whatever race you be” (10). Toward the end of poem (line 14) the ugly images are replaced with a simile: a picture of beautiful, ever-present, unbiased joy, compared to the beauty and uniqueness of a “like a pearl” (14). A pearl is something only white, rich people may have had, definitely not the poor black folks, and so it is with the joy, which poor blacks could only dream of. In line 6 author uses the taste imagery, ascribing ‘sweetness’ to the ‘freedom’ , perhaps because everybody would know how sweets taste and make one feel, and because of racism, black people would have no experience, what freedom is like, so the “sweet” is closest that they may
Sauntering to the end of my driveway, I observe what seems to be the rear end of a car covered with a light grey tarp. The wheels are just visible enough to define it as a car. As I peel off the tarp, more and more of the brown car appears. Faded spots, small dents, and rusty corners are revealed as I get farther and farther with the edge of the tarp. Finally, I get to the end and my fully uncovered Nova is there.