Pulled Over In Short Hills, NJ, 8: 00 Am By Ross Gay

In “Pulled Over in Short Hills, NJ, 8:00 AM” by Ross Gay, the speaker takes readers through an exchange with a police officer. The speaker depicts their nerves in this encounter due to the situation as a whole, but also the menacing figure of the police officer. In general, the poem includes one stanza, 17 lines, and does not include an obvious rhyme scheme. Ross Gay never reveals the true identity of the speaker. The speaker uses figurative language (imagery, similes, metaphors) and specific diction to convey an anxious and intimidated tone.

The title of this poem gives readers direct context of the speaker’s situation as they get pulled over by a male police officer in Short Hills, NJ at 8:00 AM. Immediately, the speaker conveys an anxious

This movement soon infects their entire body and the speaker uses visual imagery to describe how the shivering spreads to their “hips, chest, and neck” (5). The speaker continues by describing the physical state of their body, which leads readers to believe that the speaker’s trembles could symbolize how the speaker tries to fight off the “virus” that is the police officer and the police force in general (6). The preconceived prejudice and discrimination held by the police officer could be deemed the “disease” that the speaker tries to escape in their encounter with the police officer possibly due to the race of the speaker. Because the speaker seems aware of the extremes(shooting, injury, or worse) of this exchange, they maintain anxiety which they express through constant trembling. The speaker’s nerves soon disable their verbal ability as they must use “every ounce of strength… to squeeze words from [their] taut lips”(7-8). The speaker uses passionate diction to convey the importance of communication during this encounter, and they recognize that their “taut lips” will make it extremely difficult to convey their emotions and even survive the dangerous encounter (8). At the moment, the speaker reveals himself as completely out of control and unaware of how to communicate with the officer at the

The speaker personifies how his body quivers, and dramatically notes how “the shiver catches [their] hand” (15-16). Because we already know that the speaker has presented their license to the officer while “his eyes scann[ed]” the car, one could infer that the officer did not need any concern about the speaker’s compliance (9). One possibility could be that the “army” of rage held by the speaker could not be contained any longer, but the most plausible outcome could be that the speaker’s shaking worried the officer as he might have thought they were reaching for something(2). The climax of the entire poem occurs in the last line, when the speaker notes that “something happens” (17). Although the speaker describes most of the poem with clear, accurate language, they leave the fate of the speaker for readers to decide for themselves. The context clues suggest that the cop most likely draws his weapon and shoots the speaker as an act of police brutality over the race of the