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On The Subway Sharon Olds Summary

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“On The Subway” by Sharon Olds In “On the Subway” by Sharon Olds, she explains and gives insights of the experiences she encounters between both worlds ( people without color and colored people), using literary devices such as: tone,imagery, and poetic devices. First, the author uses poetic devices such as metaphor and allusion, to give insights on the contrasts of both worlds . She uses metaphor to describe the way they took in each other’s appearance: “I look at his raw face and he looks at my fur coat.”By comparing his “face” to being “raw” shows the sufferings and hardships the boy goes through. Her “fur coat” shows destruction because the fur comes out of animal skin. Consequently, “ On The Subway” Sharon …show more content…

From lines 4-7, it shows that they are in a subway car moving and these two are trapped inside there facing each other. Sharon compares his shoes to “a set of intentional scars” and this means that his shoes look like someone’s back which has many scars from canes. Also, the boy is “wearing red” and this shows passion and emotion within the boy. Sharon is wearing a “fur coat” and this shows that she is wealthy. This is because fur coats are very expensive and it also shows she is a [she] because the description of fur coat shows it’s a woman. Also, his “cold look/hooded lids” illustrates his sufferings and everyday struggles. In both worlds, it shows how the white is rich and the people who are colored try to survive with what they can afford like the boy wears just red meanwhile Sharon’s fur coat protects her. Moreover, her tone is contradictory as the poem continues. From lines 14-17 the tone is full of fear and vulnerability. Due to this fear and vulnerability, it portrays that Sharon is a woman. The tone shifts from fear to power from lines 18-34. In these lines, Sharon states that “white skin makes [Her] life] easy and she must “profit” from “his darkness.” From this shift in tone, it shows that dark people have no say in the society. Certainly, from the above “On The Subway” it gives insights and contrasts of the both worlds. It shows that white people have more advantages and authority in the society as compared to black

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