In “On the Subway,” Sharon Olds brings two worlds into close proximity through the use of imagery, comparisons, and a negative tone. She further develops both portraits by contrasting between a mugger and a victim, a host and a parasite, and most importantly, black and white. Olds starts off the poem by describing the boy’s shoes, which she states are “black sneakers laced with white in a complex pattern.” This imagery is used as a precursor to her later description of the relationship between the boy and the speaker. It signifies that theirs will not be an easy one. Furthermore, it foreshadows her later sentiment that that the boy is black and the speaker is white. Her comparison of the boy as a mugger furthers this notion and add a negative
