Social And Racial Division In James Dickey's Cherrylog Road

Social and Racial Division in “Cherrylog Road” James Dickey’s “Cherrylog Road” is a poem that takes place in a junkyard. The speaker, a young male, is waiting for his lover. She is Doris Holbrook, a forbidden love. Yes, the poem goes on to tell a story about this relationship, which is more of a fling, but there is more to this poem. There is an underlying theme. Dickey’s use of literary devices elaborates on the main theme and allows the reader to see the real issue. The main theme or issue in this poem is about social class and inter-racial relationships. First, the speaker is in the junkyard, waiting for Doris Holbrook to arrive. He moves from car to car, trying to imagine the past stories of the automobiles. The old cars is a symbol for the speaker. People have given up on these cars, and they are now consider worthless, broken, and unfixable. This was the same attitude towards African Americans at the height of racial division. The speaker describes one of the various cars being “Reared up on three building blocks” (Dicky 13). The car has no wheels, meaning they are not going anywhere. This reemphasized that the boy cannot escape his situation, being black in the south.

The speaker states, “The glass panel in between/ Lady and colored driver/ Not all the way broken out” (Dickey 40-42). This is a symbol of how there once was racial division and there still possible is. The symbol being the physical barrier between the driver, who is African American, and the Old Lady, who is rich and white. The speaker then goes on to say: “Let us go to the orphan asylum, / John; I have some old toys/ For children who say their prayers” (Dickey 46-48). The speaker is further elaborating that the old lady is rich. This is just one of the many examples of social class and racial division Dickey uses in this