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

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