Two scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes

Structure
• Fragmented- may suggest the broken nature of society
• Last word- “democracy”- stresses the word and makes it sound very sarcastic
as everybody does not have an equal say

Language
• “Scavengers” are better than the “beautiful people”
o “gazing down”
- Ambiguous- the truck is higher than the Mercedes obviously but this could
mean that the scavengers are actually better people and should be
looking down on the beautiful people
- We would expect that to go the other way round, so here Ferlinghetti is
challenging our social beliefs
- Also emphasises that the observation is only one way and the rich couple
do not pay the bin men any attention
• Comparisons
o “hip three-piece linen suit…casually coifed…sunglasses and long
hair….Mercedes driver”
- Emphasises the difference between the four people
- The fact that the younger scavenger has the same hair as the Mercedes
driver forces us to compare the two spoiled and rich to someone who is
not, by nature and makes us see they are not actually that different
o This may suggest there is not that much of a difference between someone
who is “as from a great distance…watching some odourless TV ad”
- This way of life for the garbage men seems impossibly perfect- the couple
seem unreal
- Their lifestyle is so far away that it seems out of reach and a long distance
away
• Colloquial language
o “Cool couple…&”
- May emphasise that the author is on the “scavengers” side as this is how
they speak, which makes us dislike the rich and see this as some kind of
fight or disagreement
- Emphasises the difference in the way they speak, as the rich people
wouldn’t generally speak any slang
• Contradiction
o “casually coifed”
- This hairstyle takes time and effort to do so it is a paradox to say it is
“casual”
- This suggests that the image they give out to people is false, which makes
us question how happy and great their lives really are

Imagery
• Metaphor
o “a bright yellow garbage truck…red plastic blazers…grey iron hair…linen
suit…blonde hair”
- The couple in the Mercedes are almost colourless (linen is naturally cream
and they both have blonde hair) but the scavengers are described as quite
bright
 - This may suggest that they have more colourful personalities, with more
brightness and a more colourful and bright aura and energy
- May also suggest they have more colour in their lives as they don’t take
anything for granted but appreciate all they have and the nature and
colour around them
o “across that small gulf in the high seas”
- “small gulf”- these two words actually contradict each other
- This makes us think that there is only a small distance between the two
lives and it should be easy to cross to the other side
- However a gulf could also mean a deep hole or break, which means it may
look possible to cross, but really it is impossible, so their lives will never
be close together
• Simile
o “like some gargoyle Quasimodo”
- Quasimodo- hunchback of Notre dame in Victor Hugo’s novel- he is a
tragic figure- kind and loving despite his ugliness but finally dies of a
broken heart
- Also means almost finished or half made- may suggest this is how the
couple view him
- Or that he is half the person he could be if he had more money and
beauty in his life
- Could also suggest that people with less money are the kinder ones but
the ones who end up with the worst fate and fortune

Sound
• Repetition
o “elegant…scavengers…as if”
- This emphasises the difference between the two more