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How Does Sharon Olds Create Tension In On The Subway

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“On The Subway” Sharon Olds
The conflict between different races has always been a struggle of humanity. The clash between black people and white people from different backgrounds and lifestyles has always been a part of American history. More recently, it has decreased to racial stereotypes and uneven wealth distribution, but the problem is still present in modern society. Sharon Olds explores this racial conflict in her poem “On The Subway” written in 1987. In this poem, Olds uses symbolism, contrast, and imagery to convey the speaker’s feelings of frustration and nervousness about an encounter on the subway. Sharon Olds uses symbolism to show the speaker's frustration towards racial division. The speaker explains that the man's “black …show more content…

Olds starts the poem off by writing “The boy and I face each other.” This use of imagery by the author creates a sense of suspense and tension for what might happen next. Also, the suspense created by the face-off is used by the author to show that the speaker might be fearful of what might happen to her. Furthermore, the speaker reflects that the man “is wearing red, like the inside of the body exposed while I am wearing dark fur, the whole skin of an animal taken and used.” This reflective imagery can be interpreted in many ways to show the speaker's feelings of frustration with the relationship between black and white people. For example, the description of the man “wearing red” and the speaker wearing “dark fur” illustrates the economic division between the races and how the black community is poorer than the white community. The author uses the words “inside of the body exposed” to describe the man to reflect how he and the black community might be vulnerable to others who might persecute them. Additionally, the author adds to the description by stating “the whole skin of an animal taken and used.” This additional interpretation could be used to show that white people might be using and profiting off black people that are vulnerable and exposed. Overall, Olds uses the deeper message behind this imagery to illustrate the speaker's feelings of discontent about how black people are treated by the white

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In “On the Subway” by Sharon Olds, the speaker is on a train and finds herself across a man, she describes has “the casual cold look of a mugger.” It is not clear as to why she sees him as a mugger, but he is larger than her. As the poem unfolds, we get a better look at her thinking process and the differences between the speaker and the man. “He is wearing red, like the inside of the body exposed” is a simile the poet used to express how simple and open the man looked; by comparing him to an open body. On the other hand, she is in a fur coat.

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In "On the Subway", the author, Sharon Olds explicitly describes an experience she had while using public transportation. Sitting across from her was an African American male who casually resembled a common mugger. In her thoughts, she analyzed and considered the obvious differences between her life of lavishness, which represents white superiority, and his supposed life of struggle and abuse, representing black inferiority. Olds displays this analyzation of both worlds by using imagery and simile. To begin, Olds uses the poetic device of imagery in order to give a visual description.

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Sharon Olds poem, On the Subway, brings up the topic of race and the views of both different cultures. She presents an abundance of discriptive terms displaying a story in your head. Olds explains these different views of how other individuals see people who are white or black. She sets the tone of judgement of the two different races. Beginning the poem with the discriptions of what the boy wears showed the contrast of herseld as well who was wearing a more poshe attire.

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On the Subway Sharon Olds depicts the harsh realities of our world. Some may believe whites have privilege over other races; however, Olds tells the story in a way that challenges that notion. Old’s use of imagery and simile help the reader understand the contrast between the white and black world. Olds uses imagery in describing the (black) male. “Casual cold look of a mugger… hooded lids.”

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"On the subway" puts into perspective the contrast between the lives of people of different races. The author, Sharon Olds, develops both characters by vividly describing each character and using analogies to emphasize the contrast between them. As a result of the collision of the two the narrator gains insight into how different people really are. When developing each character, Olds' most useful aids were his detailed descriptions. She describes the person opposite the narrator as a frightening stranger.

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Another symbol that expresses how being white means being fortunate is the phrase in lines twenty six and twenty seven when the woman says “how easy this white skin makes my life” meaning that only because she is not black, she is superior and has an easy life. All literary techniques included, On the Subway contrasts two people based on their skin tones. Olds illustrates these differences through symbolism and imagery to interpret with detail how racism is presented in

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“On the Subway,” written by Sharon Olds, is written from the perspective of what is presumed to be an upper class white woman, who finds herself on a subway with a lower class black boy. In “On the Subway”, Olds focuses on the controversial issue of racial conflict, and the theme of White v. Black. She does so by use of contrast between whites and blacks, by using harsh enjambments, powerful imagery, and by using the tone to convey the purpose. A major strategy used by Olds throughout the poem is contrast; in this case, the contrast between blacks and whites.

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