The poets’ tone and choice of vocabulary begins to contrast when he begins to describe the couple. The poet uses repetition of the word ‘elegant’ to describe the ‘couple’. This shows the reader that the couple are more important and gracious than the ‘garbage men’. The poet describes them, as a ‘couple’ to show us that they belong somewhere and have not been stereotyped liked the ‘garbage men’. The poet also uses alliteration twice when describing the couple. He first describes the woman as ‘casually coifed’ and then describes the couple as being the ‘cool couple’. The poet has used this poetic technique to make the couple more presentable and highlight the inequality between the two pairs. The couple are viewed as superiors by society due to the way they dress, the car they drive and the job they do. The poet has given this impression from the way he has described the two pairs.
The poet’s choice of vocabulary gives the reader the impression that the garbage men are dirty and unworthy. The reader gets this impression when the poet describes them as ‘scavengers’ and ‘grungy’. The poet carries on this theme when he uses a simile to describe one of the garbage men. The poet compares him to a hideous creature. ‘Like some Gargoyle Quasimodo’. This poetic technique fully degrades the garbage men. For the first time in the poem the poet makes a comparison between the garbage men and the couple, ‘the same age as the Mercedes driver. The poet also shows similarity between their hair and them wearing the same sunglasses. This shows that they are not very different but because of material things such as clothes and cars and the trophy girlfriend the man in the Mercedes is stereotyped to be better than the man driving a garbage truck. The poet purposely carries on the theme of the garbage men being inferior by comparing possessions with the couple.
The poet uses a metaphor at the end of the poem to make the reader think about the unfair stereotyping occurring in the poem. The metaphor that is used is, ‘across that small gulf in the high seas of this democracy. This metaphor highlights the unfair and unbalanced inequality in the poem. This shows that due to the couple being richer they are more powerful this is the reality in America even though it meant to be a democracy and a land of equal opportunities for everyone. The reader is given the impression that the poet has purposely put this at the end of the poem to give the reader something to ponder on and remember the poem.
The poet has purposely structured the poem to flow throughout. The poet has done this using enjambment. This makes the poetry flow simultaneously into the next stanza with no punctuation. The poem is structured in ways that describes the two groups together simultaneously rather than describe one group in one section and the other group in another section. The poet has done this to show that he does no see a difference between the two groups and that they should be classed the same and not differently and unfairly.
This poem fits into modern times because stereotyping and unfair treatment due to the job, dress style, or what vehicle you drive is common in this modern age that we live in. This kind of inequality has been occurring through history as well. After thorough review I think the poem fits in modern times as well as history. The poem is fairly modern so the poet has based this on what he believes happens in American society in the present.
In contrast to Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes, at the beginning on ‘Nothings Changed’ the poet begins with vivid description to describe the setting. In Nothings Changed the poet uses onomatopoeia to make the reader understand the setting more. The poet uses, ‘crunch’. This gives a more vivid explanation of the harsh environment. To further that, the reader is straight away given a bad impression of the setting described. The poet does this through personification. He describes the weeds as ‘amiable weeds.’ Amiable shows the unfriendliness of the setting described.
Both poems highlight the fact that the people with more valuable possessions or superior facilities are treated better in society. The poet makes the Mercedes appear out as a car for the rich in Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes. In comparison the ‘white’s only inn’ appears as a fortress for the rich and the white. This is clear when the poet describes the Whites Only Inn to be ‘brash with glass’. This shows that the place is over-the-top. The poet also confirms the division when the whites only inn’s ‘name flaring like a flag’. The poet has used this simile to show that they are marking their territory. This shows that the place is unwelcoming to the blacks and that they are proud of this. This gives the reader the impression that the blacks are unfairly treated by the whites in the society they share.
In Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes, the poet shows that the division is not physical as they are allowed to go to the same places, entitled to the same privileges, if they can afford. This is contrast to Nothing’s Changed as there is a physical barrier that divides the blacks and the whites. The blacks are not allowed to go to the ‘white’s only inn’. The physical barrier is shown when the poet writes ‘I press my nose to the clear panes’. Unlike Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes, there is a physical barrier separating the two groups. This physical barrier highlights the division between the blacks and the whites.
In contrast to Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes the poet in Nothings changed shows his anger and frustration by the tone in the language he uses. This is shown when he writes ‘hands burn for a stone, a bomb to shiver down the glass’. This shows the reader that the poet is showing his anger that he would go to extreme measures to put an end what is happening. On the other hand the poet in Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes does not show his emotions through throughout the whole poem.
Unlike ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes,’ ‘Nothings Changed’ has been structured in sections. The poet has purposely split the different places in stanzas without ever bringing them together which illuminates the division between the blacks and the whites, whereas in Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes the structure flows more.
After reading both of the poems the impact that has been created on the reader, me, is that the individual’s shows in the poems are treated unfairly, stereotyped and are shown prejudice. In Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes the garbage men are shown to be inferior to the couple in the Mercedes. In the same way the blacks in Nothings changed is also portrayed to be inferior to the whites. This is not fair as all humans should be treated the same. My views, like most people are that I am saddened by these poems and it confirms to me that these situations are still occurring in our day-to-day lives. People treating other people the same as they would like to be treated is the only way to stamp this out.
