The poet reflects all his emotions in “Nothing’s Changed” This is due to his life up-bringing, as he experiences’ the injustice of segregation and how black people are the under-belly of society and the “white people” condone their horrid actions. He finds the prejudice of society when he was arrested for terrorism in 1987 and was banned for publicly speaking for 5 years, however he carried on writing despite the ban and he wrote “Nothing’s Changed” under his new ANC name in 1970. He expresses his bottled up anger and criticizes the government and the authority given. He invites the reader to live in his shoes, and to experience the same pain he went through. In the poem Afrika addresses the privileges of white people and the deprived black people he compares and contrasts them both in the poem from the way they eat, their manners and standard of living. It states in the second stanza his bottled resentment and fury circulating his body and his “hot, white, inward turning anger of my eyes.” In lines 1-16 he describes his hometown in District 6 of how it looks and how he feels, we get this sense of dry, harsh, barren, unwanted and empty wasteland. Even though the old sign has gone, he sense’s where he is and his anger begins to rise this is because he is being forced out by the government because of his skin colour, his anger is repressed inside “hot, white” if he releases it to his oppressor he probably would have been penalized. “No sign says it but we know where we belong”, so this indicates he has nowhere to go he is poor, powerless, deprived and repressed because of his race. Inequality yet stands out again, even though there is no “whites only” sign he knows he is not wanted he is isolated, emotionally, mentally physically due to the chartered streets, which have been brainwashed with racial discrimination. For example he illustrates this by analysing how black and white people eat; “new, up-market, haute cuisine” so already the word “haute cuisine” indicates it is an upper class exclusive restaurant, with the finest prepared divine food. “Guard at the gate post” this specifies high status, authority and wealth and how they have the money to be selective.” “Whites only inn” racial discrimination no black people are permitted to go on in the site. Like they would have the courage to set foot in the restaurant, after they have been racially segregated, deprived, repressed, demoralized ethically and morally. Now they would not have the audacity to even think of going in. Whilst white people are dining in the most exclusive “haute cuisine” restaurant drinking out of “white glass” and being surrounded by luxurious “linen”, on the other side of the “clear panes” which seems to be a barrier to divide Sophistication and a Dump. The Black people eat “down” the road and the poet gives us a sense of how lower down physically and socially they are. They eat in a “working man’s cafe” which suggest they must eat quickly and get back to work unlike the white people in the “up-market” restaurant. This suggests money, luxury and leisure to take time and enjoy the “haute cuisine.” The poet does not mention work, when talking about the white people’s restaurant. Afrika also gives us an image of plastic, greasy, uncomfortable, unappetising and un-healthy food like “bunny chow” which is a poor man’s hamburger made with the cheapest fish called pilchards. These people have lost the dignity to even eat properly; they cannot even afford a standard hamburger. They stand; do not even have something to wipe their greasy hands with often eating their “bunny chows” as they “wipe your finger on your jeans” black people are so deprived they don’t even have a nap-kin. In the last stanza he describes how he wants to demolish the restaurant; to destroy the glass barrier with a “stone” or “bomb.” To summarize this Afrika is aware of the political and racial problems in South Africa and uses this political poem to send out his message about racial awareness in South Africa and around the world. Even though Inequality has come along away; it has not come as far, as he would like it to, so in a way nothing has changed.
The democracy is the government of its country by its people usually through a parliament of representatives elected. Ferlinghetti criticizes democracy and the so called “American dream” that if you work hard enough you can be anything you want to. But how often does this actually happen, and he illustrates this idea in the poem “Two scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes.” In the first verse Ferlinghetti describes the two different sets of people the “two garbagemen” and the “elegant couple.” He has created an imagery of these two different people “At the stoplight waiting for the light” So we already know they will be with each other for a short period of time, they are socially divided; However physically the traffic lights have bought them together. On the contrary to “Nothing’s Changed” this scene is set in “San Francisco” which is 400 miles North of Los Angeles. The reader gets a distinctive imagery between the two people. For Example “a bright yellow garbage truck with two garbagemen in red plastic blazers.” The colours described are tacky, brash, cheap and tasteless. Also the “yellow garbage truck” itself says the two garbage men are servants’ to the public cleaning everyone else’s rubbish. “standing on the back stoop” This questions the values of their lives to themselves and society; it’s dangerous because there is “one on each side hanging on” “hanging” if they fall they most would likely die, furthermore it looks un-sophisticated, “looking down into” this inverts the usual image of the rich looking down on the poor. We see a contrast on what they are driving; “elegant” couples” Mercedes and “Garbagemen’s” “yellow garbage truck.” The Mercedes is stylish, expensive elegant and high status and it is their own. In comparison to the dump truck which has a cheap yellow colour and the truck was given to the garbage men, they do not hold legal position of it. In the second verse he incorporates what the “elegant couple” is wearing; “A man in a hip-three piece linen suit” Now linen is a luxury fabric, it creases when you wear in more than once you have to constantly press or iron it; and it is very expensive to maintain. In comparison with the “red plastic blazers” which we get a sense of heat; then you sweat, plastic, discomfort and inflexibility. With his “shoulder-length blonde hair and sunglasses” this image represents a well groomed and fashionable person. On his arm a “blonde young woman” with “casually coifed” blonde hair symbolises the typical beautiful and youthful woman. Coifed has to be done professionally. She has the money to go to the hairdressers to get it professionally nicely cut and cleaned. “On his way to the architect’s office” The Mercedes driver obviously has a level of commitment, dedication and ambition to become an architect, he has an important job, its self service; he works for himself, intelligent he had the money to do further education and study in university, so he came from a well of family with a good back ground. He has a commitment because it take 7 years to do an architectural degree in university and you have to pay each year a substantial amount of money to continue your degree. However the garbage men have no degree, no ambition, they didn’t go to University or they didn’t have the upbringing of a well off family to encourage to study further and get a degree. In the next couple of lines he calls them ‘scavengers’. We usually think of scavengers as animals that live off whatever others leave behind, like vultures. And in a way that’s what they are – they are paid to take away what others don’t want. But they do an important job and we couldn’t live without them. “Gargoyle Quasimodo” gives of a. amiably grotesque image. That he is crippled by the heavy dustbins as they are “hunched back.” Ferlighetti describes the couple as an “odourless TV ad”. They don’t smell they have a perfect world and this is something the garbage men cannot be apart of; Due to democracy, the adverts always betray the people. It is only “the very red light” that brings these two separate worlds together, to a few short moments. Only by coincidence, they are not friends stereotypically judging superior, well mannered people; they wouldn’t want to associate with people below their calibre. Ferlinghetti shows this image by stating “in the high seas of this democracy” or narrow mouth that should be easy to cross. Yet we also think of the other meaning of gulf - a deep chasm or abyss. It may look possible to cross, they are deluded into thinking the impossible can be made possible.
Both of these poems are about the differences between rich and poor people in society. In both poems, the main theme is that people are segregated in the society they live in. However, in 'Nothing’s Changed' this poem explores racial segregation in South Africa during the apartheid separating the whites from the blacks such as the 'whites only in café' In contrast to the racial segregation in 'Nothing’s Changed', 'Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes' explores the separation in the society by the wealth, the person holds in relation to how good the persons physical looks are. They are both political poems which are concerned with Democracy and equality and they both use graphic imagery to convey their messages. For example “flaring like a flag” He uses assonance and alli
