Shawn Olds On The Subway

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On the Subway, a poem by Shawn Olds, is about two different people on a subway, a black male and a white female. That right there are the two portraits, the two different worlds of a black male and a white woman. These portraits, in the poem, are contrasted and developed by tone and imagery. The imagery in the poem depicts a portrait of a black male as violent, a thug, tings of that nature. We see this when Olds expresses, "He has the casual cold look of a mugger, alert under hooded lids." We can imagine here the male just sitting there, with his hood on, having a evil look ready to steal something, which is exactly what is implied. This depicts the portrait of a criminal. Another example of this portrait is when Olds articulates, "I look …show more content…

The tone is disrespectful and ignorant, and this shown by how stereotypical she speaks of him. We see this when Olds writes, " he could take my coat so easily, my briefcase, my life." That is extremely disrespectful, and it makes it seem like every black male will rob or attack a white individual. Another example of a rude, ignorant tone is when Olds remarks, "the way he absorbs the murderous beams of the nations heart." Her strong language here is saying that he and the black male population in general absorb the uncivilized, violent beams of the nation and hold it within them. This is ignorant, once again implying that all black males are thugs, where this generalization is wrong. The indication of blacks not being on the same pedestal as whites is also present. This seen when Olds remarks, " or if he is in my power, the way I am living off his life, eating the steak he does not eat." She is trying to say here that whites are superior to blacks, as "eating the steak he does not eat" is saying she lives more luxurious than blacks, once again being ignorant and disrespectful. Throughout the rest of the poem, she was depicting a portrait of blacks being more superior, however that was safety and vulnerability wise. Here, she indicates whites are more superior in the society aspect. That one line shows the white portrait. Superior in society, vulnerable everywhere

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