Language and layout function to show a division between the classes or people presented. This occurs in the form of contrasts and alternating lines in ‘Two Scavengers’, whereas ‘Nothing’s Changed’ uses a physical division of separate two columns to contrast the white and black Africans and the places they inhabit. For example, the punned ‘whites only inn’ reflects that only well-off white people can enter the restaurant that ‘squats’ on District 6 a place once integrated then racially segregated is so once again. The use of the metaphor ‘squats’ shows the division as this phrase appears some inhabiting a single line reflecting how the restaurant is isolated and exclusive. The simile ‘name/flaring like a flag’ reflects that this establishment has colonised District 6. This is reinforced by the contrast, in two different verses, of the personified, native ‘purple flowering, amiable weeds’ that seem friendly in contrast with the ‘Port Jackson trees’ imported from Australia. This adds to the idea that the restaurant is totally foreign or other in this District despite its ironic attempt to exclude those who used to live there.
Contrast is also clearly used as the restaurant is described from the outside looking in with, ‘nose / to the clear panes.’ It is obvious to Afrika that economic racial segregation seemingly invisible like glass; it still divides the African nation racially. ‘Linen falls / the single rose’ reflects the class of the restaurant and provides a sense of romance and prestige’ whereas in the second column ‘working man’s café’ selling ‘bunny chows’ (rather than ‘haute cuisine’) that can be eaten at ‘a plastic table’s top.’ There’s a real sense of decorum or manners as instead of ‘linen’ whereas the working men ‘wipe their fingers in your jeans’ to show it’s common and working class. With the phrase, ‘it’s in the bone’, Afrika conveys how it is assumed that this is a part of the working class and not to do with the fact that they have never experienced anything different.
Contrasting language is also used in ‘Two Scavengers’ as the garbage men wear ‘red plastic blazers’ personifying a warning or the fact that their lives have stopped just as they’ve had to stop at the red traffic light. The American dream is determined by their being two sides: the haves and the have nots. Therefore, the architect in the Mercedes wears a cool ‘linen suit’; the cloth reflects his wealth. Imagery such as the Scavengers being described as ‘gargoyle quasimodos’ reflects that they’re ugly but just like beautiful churches need gargoyles to ward off evil, the Scavengers are needed just as much as the architect to make the city aesthetically pleasing . The lines here are scattered much like the rubbish the bin men collect.
The second and third verses are contrasted as one describes the elegant couple and the other the Scavengers but there is a connection in the end of the third verse as the Scavengers look in the Mercedes. This form of the layout reflects the class division but enhances the fact they’re part of the American dream.
The lines always meet in the middle reflecting how they all have to stop at the red light, despite their disjointed lives as signified by the form. However, the verses about the Mercedes occupants seem far more ordered and solid as in Verse 2 as they come from a higher order of class. This, again, is reflected in Verse 3. Thus, the poem has a very irregular shape to show how the American dream is enjoyed by the wealthy but all classes help build it, hence it has a (social) ladder effect.
In contrast, in Nothing’s Changed the form of the lines is more ordered except when expressing the pent-up fury when sentences are lengthened such as:
‘and the hot white, inwards turning
Anger of my eyes.’
The reputation of ‘and’ in this verse lengthens the lines until the last one where the anger reaches its peak and reflecting that this is an angry protest. The poet itemises the physical effect on his body so that the list builds until he’s so angry that he’s almost blind with fury and his eyes are rolling white in his head. Perhaps this blind anger is due to the blind ignorance of people to the fact nothing has changed in South Africa.
Both poems use well-paced lines in their endings. Again, in ‘Nothing’s Changed’, Afrika uses a list to reflect his anger that segregation is still enforced in an economic or social sense but the physical barrier is transparent so it is not so obvious:
‘Hands burn / for a stone, a bomb, / to shiver down the glass./ Nothing’s Changed.’
The description of the glass shivering reflects how the persona has been left out in the cold or his hot fury makes him shake so that the only release he can see is breaking the glass. The end line is a statement of the bitter irony to the situation and acts as a suitable summary (and title) of the whole message of the poem. Although the ending looks ordered in terms of layout, the fast pace created by short, sharp lines reflects the anger and the desire to break the glass.
In contrast, the ending of ‘Two Scavengers’ is paced but in order to slow down and appreciate the message of the irony of the American dream making ‘anything at all…possible between them’ yet they have to cross,
That small gulf
In the high seas
of this democracy.’
The layout reflects the division in the social classes and reflects the ‘waves’ suggested by the high seas. The divisions reflect that although they exist in the same ‘small gulf’ that in itself is a physical division as some people, like the architect, ride the waves of success in democracy, using their freedom to achieve the American dream; however, others remain on smaller wavers, trapped within their social position or class and unable to reach the towering heights of fulfilling the American dream of money and success.
In conclusion, both poems combine the language and layout to enhance their messages about social division. Whereas the segregation is emphasises by the division of two columns to show the division between the white and black, poor and rich South Africans, the fact that the site or place of segregation used to be one of integration is emphasised by the persona’s reaction to the place and the ‘white only inn’ to add extra poignancy. Similarly, in ‘Two Scavengers’ the ‘couples’ inhabit the same world yet the alternating, contrasting lines emphasises their contrasting lives based on social differences, although there is the ironic positioning of the Scavengers ‘looking down’ at the ‘elegant couple’, they are never going to possess the American dream despite their work in being part of it in making the city look appealing, just like the architect; thus the jagged lines of comparison and contrast reflect how the classes are compelled and repelled by one another within a snapshot of time and place.