Cherrylog Road James Dickey’s poem, Cherrylog Road, is clearly an exhilarating, narrative poem. The speaker of this piece is a young man reminiscing of a past love affair that was forbidden. This is a provocative poem, told in the first person and is full of figurative language and symbolism. The setting of this poem is in a rural part of an unnamed Southern state, off of Highway 96 at Cherrylog Road. It is at the peak of a summer afternoon in a junkyard full of discarded cars. This setting affects the reader’s perception of this poem by using the cars’ hot metallic bodies and the full force of a hot, summer day to entice the reader to enter this steaming bygone era of cars and lust. The cars are symbolic of a black society that has been …show more content…
The girl, Doris Holbrook, is from a nearby farm and her father is abusive to his daughter. Dickey describes this abuse when he writes,” To be seen by her red-haired father who would change, in the squalling barn, her back’s pale skin with a strop…”() This part of the poem uses a razor strap to symbolize the beating that the girl will get if her father finds out about her lover. Doris carries a wrench and uses the necessity of retrieving car parts as an excuse to get away from her father and to meet this young lover. The Author describes the girl’s father as having red hair. This red hair symbolizes the red anger that of the father if he found out that his daughter was seeing a black man. As the dark colored man hops into one side of a car and out the other it is symbolic of him entering a role in society. He is now an acceptable partner for this white girl. The author tells us that the girl is white in the poem when he writes, “Her back’s pale skin…” (). Dickey uses the symbolism of a frog, mouse, crickets, roaches, and beetles to denote basic creatures that are very low on the food chain, much like the young black man. He also uses the symbol of a King snake to show a predator seeking out his prey as in the young man’s lust for the white
Chainsaw We scratched our names In that oak tree 'Cause I loved you And you loved me A jagged little heart so the whole town knew it Carved in the bark with an arrow through it
Out of so many characteristics, a relevant background adds the depth of a good story. Without the male-dominated society, the escape from the yellow wallpaper may be plainly viewed by readers as insanity. Analogously, readers must know that in a time before the Civil Movement, discrimination against the black is still a lifetime threat, that is why a depicted neighbourhood of poor and decadent would not seem odd at the
This colour symbolism is significant because it initiates a consciousness of a break in social norms which challenges society’s expectations. Brooks effectively uses line enjambment to demonstrate how the white woman’s composition is coming apart, which is exemplified through the structure of the poem. The red blood that she sees on her child’s face makes her think about how Emmett must have bled the same shade of red when her husband hurt him. She also sees blood when her husband kisses her, and it is at this point, “the white woman’s opinion about her role and her husband [changes]” (McKibbin 676). Although the woman has now come to an understanding of the injustices in her society, she feels helpless because “nothing could stop Mississippi” and she thinks there is nothing she can do with this new realization since the society she lives in still upholds conservative values (Brooks 328).
In my opinion, in the novel, the red sweater symbolizes hatred, anger, cruelty, rage, or even a person who you will fear to approach just by looking at him because in the novel he is characterized as being an evil person who hates dogs and beats them like in this quote when it says: “He was beaten; but he was not broken. He saw once for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club. He learned the
In Sharon Olds poem, "The Race" she tells the story of how she rushed to the airport to fly home and see her dying father one last time. The poem is filled with suspense as aheraces throught the airport in order to reach the Gate that was departing in a few moments. Olds ' exssesive use of enjambments, metaphors, and personification demonstrates her sense of persistance all through the poem. Moreover she respectfully listens to the young man provide her instructions to catch another flight. As if from zero to one hundred she boosted up and ran to the next Gate.
“…wearing red, like the inside of the body exposed”. These phrases show the cold, hopelessness of the man. Olds then goes on to say the woman is wearing “dark fur, the whole skin of an animal taken and used”. That automatically tells the reader the woman is privileged and the man is less fortunate. In addition, the author uses parallel structure to show
Living life everyday in a monotonous mechanical fashion is considered a subpar style of life for many. In Small Frogs Killed on the Highway By James Wright, Wright conveys a message perfectly touching on the issue of taking chances. The speaker of the poem reflects on his past choices through describing frogs optimizing their opportunities by deciding to risk death and attempt to cross a road. Throughout the poem Wright uses objects riddled with either deeper meanings or dual meanings. Why are frogs latently compared to humans?
Everyone has certain childhood memories and objects that shape them and their identity. For Marilyn Nelson Waniek, one of these was a quilt. The speaker in this poem uses the literary techniques of diction and symbolism to show how childhood objects and circumstances, like the quilt, can shape and show our identity. The speaker also uses hyperboles to emphasize how important a sense of identity is to people and how that identity shapes our lives.
Starting out with the first two lines “You got the gas, I got the matches. We gonna turn this town to ashes” symbolizes the burning down of a town to teenagers throwing crazy parties, normally destroying their own self or the property that the party was on. In line 7, “Cause your motor runs just as fast as mine” is a metaphor comparing a truck engine to the drive or passion of the two lovers together. The faster the motor of a truck runs, the faster and more uncontrollable the truck will go. Just as when the passion of a person increases, their actions are dealt with much more haste and less with control and a thought process.
Prose Analysis Essay In Ann Petry’s The Street, the urban setting is portrayed as harsh and unforgiving to most. Lutie Johnson, however, finds the setting agreeable and rises to challenges posed by the city in order to achieve her goals. Petry portrays this relationship through personification, extended metaphor, and imagery.
The cat represents her presence and the color red stands for the good health of Mattie and the sleigh ride represents the time Mattie tells Ethan she needs him. The lesson in this novel to me is to never take the small things for granted. Red is the color of blood, ruddiness, good health, and vitality, all of which Mattie has in abundance, which Zeena lacks. Red is also the color of transgression and sin, the trademark color of the devil. At the dance, Mattie wears a red scarf and for the evening, she wears a red ribbon in her hair.
This quote gets us to know how equality is in the book. From this quote we can get that white people have an advantage, and black people have to be patient enough to see how they are being treated by having to wait for the white people to pass when they are the ones who got to the bridge first. The cars show/represent how they fit in the line of respect. It is known in the book for the characters, that if you are black you are likely to not own a car, but maybe a wagon; if not, then you go around on your
In a person’s life, many situations transpire and make them feel pride over one’s self. Readers can see this in the short story,” The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. “In his spare time Hurst wrote short stories and plays, but The Scarlet Ibis was the only work of his that become famous “(gradesaver.com)”. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst uses red to symbolize warning, death, and guilt to show the change the older brother goes through, as he takes care of Doodle. The first instance when red is used, is to express warning and the older brother’s attitude, is at Doodle’s birth.
“On the Subway,” written by Sharon Olds, is written from the perspective of what is presumed to be an upper class white woman, who finds herself on a subway with a lower class black boy. In “On the Subway”, Olds focuses on the controversial issue of racial conflict, and the theme of White v. Black. She does so by use of contrast between whites and blacks, by using harsh enjambments, powerful imagery, and by using the tone to convey the purpose. A major strategy used by Olds throughout the poem is contrast; in this case, the contrast between blacks and whites.
Beyond the Walk to Natchez A historical great piece of literary art, “A Worn Path” published in 1941, is a story of an old woman’s journey to town through the forest. The setting is rural Mississippi in the 1940’s, a time when racism was a way of life and a trip to town, especially for an old black woman, was often a long journey and thus a trip not often taken. The old woman’s name is Phoenix Jackson and she has quite an adventurous trip through the forest to town. One is made to believe this is just an average walk down the path for this old woman; however the reader is entertained by Phoenix’s mannerisms and realizes there is deeper meaning of the story.