What is the message of 'two scavengers in a truck'? Explain the techniques used by the poet to put the message across.

Essay by Eddey July 2005

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What is the message of 'two scavengers in a truck'? Explain the techniques used by the poet to put the message across.

The message of 'two scavengers' is a simple one. It shows us that no matter where we come from, no matter how rich or poor we are there is a point, where we all must wait as equals. The traffic lights - a place where all is still, all is silent a time for people to view each other, check each other out. It's also about how in this democratic life where we all are supposed to be equal we have an ever growing divide between the rich and poor.

This poem is written with out any punctuation; however it does feature capitals which signify almost every time a comparison between the rich and glamorous people in the Mercedes and the poor morning workers of the garbage truck. This lack of punctuation helps give the reader a feeling of timelessness, when reading you stop as you choose, no grammatical need to read faster or slower. Also the gaps between line beginnings, the ever deepening indent is like the growing depth of the rich/poor divide.

This poem is riddled with contrasts each cunningly crafted into the stanza. Each one reinforces the message of contrast between what society should be like, and how it really is.

"A bright yellow garbage truck" "Red plastic blazers"

These two extracts are representative, in my opinion, of how people are forced into jobs which stick out strongly in society as being bad, jobs for morons and even jobs to stay away from, like the conflicting colours of the garbage men and truck.

Yellow and red combined, a signal often in the natural world of danger, a warning that once in that job,