I feel that the poet’s background affects the views and opinions that they express in each of the poems, firstly looking at the poem ‘Nothing’s Changed’ which was written by Tatamkhula Afrika who was born and bred by a Turkish mother and an Arabian father in Egypt. At the age of two Tatamkhula was orphaned and later fostered by white South Africans. In South Africa at the time, black people were treated unfairly whereas white people had an advantage over black people, they were treated fairly. Tatamkhula was treated fairly because of his pale skin; he didn’t want to be classed as a white person as he disagreed with apartheid rule. He attempted to overpower the rule of apartheid but failed. Moving on to the poem ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck’ which was written by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Ferlinghetti was born in New York in the year of 1919 but lived in San Francisco for most of his life. Ferlinghetti performed a lot of his poetry in public places such as bars.
The tone of the poem ‘Nothing’s Changed’ is written in the classic first person approach, where the poet returns to the harsh environment where he once lived. He sees a classy restaurant has been built with a guard stood at the gatepost. He thinks about the poverty surrounding it, especially the working man’s café, where black people eat without plates from a plastic tabletop, this makes him think that although there are changes in political circumstances, there are also still inequalities between black and white people and nothing has changed. Although South Africa is believed to have altered, he senses that the posh and elegant restaurant is really 'whites-only', the annoyance makes him want to demolish the restaurant. Although nothing tells him so, the poet knows that this is where he is: “my feet know and my hands”. Lawrence Ferlinghetti who wrote ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck’ is not involved in this poem as it is written in the 3rd person mode. The American belief “all men are created equal” is considered in this poem, and the red light is self-ruled, because it stops everyone from passing. They are divided by a “small gulf” and the gulf is “in the high seas of democracy”, which implies that anyone can cross.
I will consider the dissimilarity along with the organization of the two poems commencement with ‘Nothing’s Changed’. The “up-market” inn (“brash with glass” and the bright sign), which expresses its given name is meant for white customers only. No sign says it but black people know they are not allowed past the guard at the “guard at the gatepost”. The “white’s only inn” is stylish, with “linen falls” and a “single rose” on each tabletop. Compared to the shabby, run down “working man's cafe” which sells the local food being “bunny chows”. There are no linen falls, just a grungy plastic table, there are no bathroom’s or place’s to wash, you are forced to “wipe your fingers on your jeans”. The most important concept in the complete poem is the meaning of the word “glass”. It is a symbol of the separation of colour, and importance. As he “backs” away from the glass he sees himself as a “boy again” in his infant years with his face peering through the glass. He quotes “Hands burn for a stone, a bomb to shiver down the glass. This clearly states that he desires to break the glass of the inn to show his anger. He wants to overrule the apartheid system, which separates white and black people in South Africa. The poet assumes that the audience knows South Africa as he refers to specific places (for example, District Six), plants (for instance, “amiable weeds”) and local food (e.g. bunny chows). The poem is concerned about the inequality of a country where “Nothing's changed”. This objection could also apply to countries where the leaders defy improvement and refute justice to the general public. The poet is getting more irritated as the poem continues. On the other hand Lawrence Ferlinghetti contrasts the citizens in a variety of ways in the poem ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck’. E.g., the elegant couple are on their way to the man's work place, while the “Two Scavengers” are going home, having worked through the early morning. The man in the Mercedes is togged up in “A hip three piece linen suite” and the woman is wearing a “Short skirt with colored stockings”; the scavengers are Mucky and wearing “Red plastic blazers”. One scavenger is old, hunched, with grey hair; the other is about the same age as the Mercedes driver and, like him, has long hair and is wearing sunglasses. The older man is thought of as the antonym of gorgeous, he is compared to as a “gargoyle” and to “Quasimodo”.
Both of the poems show inequality, and the fact that white people and rich people have the advantage over poor or black people. Both poets are angry about the ways of there neighborhood or birth place. The fact that because of wealth and the color of the pigments in skin you get treated unfairly and to a disadvantage to those rich successful white people.
In the poem ‘Nothings Changed’ Tatamkhula Afrika has a personal experience in the problem that he is stating. He lived in the generation of Apartheid in South Africa and has experienced the inequality of black people. Whereas Lawrence Ferlinghetti has not expressed no personal experiences in the poem and has not used the powerful language that Tatamkhula Afrika has clearly used in the poem ‘Nothing’s Changed’
