preview

Two Scavengers In A Truck Analysis

Decent Essays
Open Document

In the poems Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and ‘Nothings Changed’ By Tatamkhulu Afrika, both poets present their feelings towards how nothing will change and how unequal our society is through past experiences and observations. Ferlinghetti presents social inequality through his observation of the contrast between two different classes of people in San Francisco during 1950’s. However, Afirka’s presents his idea and feeling of racial inequality through sharp images of what he observes when he goes back to his home in District Six, Cape Town after the Apartheid has ended and the consequences and aftereffects. Both poets effectively contrast and respond to their feelings of social inequality …show more content…

He uses words such as ‘click’, ‘crunch’ and ‘brash’ to exaggerate. The structure in the stanzas and lines is short. This is effective for the reader as the poet gets straight to the point and it adds to why his anger is building up. It allows the reader to see that there are reasons for his anger. Afrika uses harsh words at the start of the poem to indicate that he is already feeling annoyed about the way his home has turned into a wasteland and used for the white’s to build extravagant things. As the poem progresses the poet starts to get more and more riled up by the situation. Furthermore, the structure resembles how the poets outrage increases. Afrika structures this very suitably as he exhibits his anger through his past memories and emotions. The fact that the poet uses harsh and sharp words relates to how even when he comes back to his hometown and apartheid has ended, there is still a lot of things that have not changed. When the reader reads the poem, by having those harsh words in there, it makes the poem a lot less smooth therefore it creates a bitter and uncomfortable atmosphere for the reader. Furthermore, the use of onomatopoeia adds to the way this poem is expressed- protest poem. Aside from using onomatopoeia, the poet uses other literary devices such as the comparison of imagery between the whites and blacks and provides a visual image for the …show more content…

New, upmarket, haute cuisine’, ‘working man’s cafe’. In stanza three and six, the poet uses contrast to exhibit one of the many ways the whites and blacks are different. ‘New, upmarket, haute cuisine’, ‘working man’s cafe’. The poet provides the reader an image on how differently they dine. In a way it adds to how society is already messed up because the language the poet uses, it is obvious that the restaurant for the whites ONLY is very sophisticated and the restaurant screams ‘I’m rich’ and it is clearly shown on the tone of the language used, the poet seems as if he is spitting the words out with a bitter sound. On the other hand, the ‘working man’s cafe’ is a place where it is described as more comfortable and the tone of the language used is more peaceful. The way the poet expresses his feelings towards both the whites only restaurant and the working man’s cafe shows that he is much more comfortable with eating at a place he has eaten for as long as he remembers. In a lot of ways this is what society has become in our world today because the poet understands and knows that most people would want to eat in a more clean restaurant rather than in a place where it is for working people. Taking this idea, the poet creates a dimension for the reader to imagine themselves in both places and see which one they feel more comfortable in and it shows the reader that the poet

Get Access
Related
Get Access