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The Cab Driver Who Flipped Me Off Analysis

1085 Words5 Pages

It’s been 53 years since President Lyndon Johnson enforced the Civils Rights Act of 1964, but racism is still an ongoing issue to this day, whether it’s intentionally or inadvertently caused by the people in our society. Cornelius Eady evaluates the concept of racism through his poem, “The Cab Driver Who Ripped Me Off,” which focuses on the views of a prejudiced cab driver. Eady’s literary works focuses largely on the issue of racism within our society, centering on the trials that African Americans face in the United States. “The Cab Driver Who Ripped Me Off” from Autobiography of a Jukebox is an influential poem that successfully challenges the problems associated with racism, which is a touchy, yet prevalent problem that needs to be addressed. …show more content…

It is a free-verse poem that is a monologue of a cab driver’s rant on the people he despises. The lines are all short and choppy, creating an assertive tone that suits the vocal quality of a ranting monologue. For example, lines like “Look at me” and “Now you take me” are a few words in length. The overall length of this poem is quite long, with a total of 100 lines, which is due to the short lines. The length may represent how long cab ride felt to the African American passenger as the driver was displaying prejudice behavior, even if the cab ride wasn’t realistically that long. It mimics how time is passing by slowly to this person as he sits there, having to listening to this man rant. There aren’t any romantic poetic traits or language such as rhyming because racism is not considered to be a romantic or pleasant topic. Furthermore, the title of this poem, “The Cab Driver Who Ripped Me Off,” is thought-provoking. In this case, the idea of being ripped off refers to the African American passenger having his sense of self-worth as an American and his dignity being stolen by the cab driver. The driver doesn’t see his passenger for who he or she is truly is, only his or her race. The driver doesn’t see people based on their individuality, he defines others only in groups such as African Americans and the poor

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