Literary Techniques Used In Sharon Olds On The Subway

In “On the Subway”, Sharon Olds brings two worlds into close proximity using imagery, symbolism, and diction. Through these literary devices, the reader can understand the insight the narrator is trying to create. These literary devices help the reader understand the differences of the two worlds Sharon is writing about. Olds uses imagery to provide a visual representation of the two characters in the poem. In the poem, the narrator in on a subway, and ends up sitting across from a boy. Immediately, the narrator looks at the boy, noticing that “his feet are huge, in black sneakers laced with white” then mentions how she is wearing a “fur coat” as to depict the differences in the narrator’s financial status. Continuously, the narrator mentions the boy’s “casual cold look of a mugger” and how “he is wearing red, like the inside of the body exposed” to make the reader infer that the boy might be in a gang or he is a murder. The narrator could always be making false assumptions about the boy because she is afraid of the boy and the threat he may cause to her. Additionally, the narrator feels as …show more content…
It is clearly stated by the narrator that “he is black and I am white” to distinctly show that one of the differences of the two characters is their skin tone. Due to this difference, she feels as if she is “living off his life” because the nation was built off of slavery, and she knows if it wasn’t for his people, she wouldn’t be where she is at. The narrator feels as if she is “in his power” because she assumes he can take her life and “break” it “across his knee like a stick”. She feels her life is fragile compared to the boy’s because “his own back is being broken” due to all the work he does and all the racism he faces. In the end, Sharon Olds both clearly states the differences of the two world and references to the differences she brought together in this