Lorena Ambriz 12/11/14 Within “On the Subway”, Sharon Olds portray the complicated relationship between African Americans and Caucasians in an attempt to portray the reality of stereotypes. In the commencement of the poem the author presents a typical stereotype of each race. “His feet are huge in black sneakers…laced with white. Through his use of the characteristics of what individuals believe to be a typical African American, Olds begins to evolve the symbolic gap between African Americans and “Caucasians” that prevents harmony between the two; giving the readers an insight on the scene as well as in our daily lives. “Black sneakers laced with white in a complex pattern like a set of international scars” is an analogy Olds utilize in order to establish the relationship that has been present between the two races for over centuries. “The black sneakers laced with white” represents the ancestors of African Americans that were laced (enslaved) by the “white” (“My Grandmother’s Coat) who left them with emotional scars. Olds describes the “complex patterns” as “international scars” in an attempt to emphasize what some believe to be discrimination in the society. This concept is interwoven and developed throughout the poem. Including when Olds utilizes allusions in an attempt to display the way in which African Americans and Caucasians are “stuck on opposite sides”, he exploits the theory that the two characters are destined to be separated permanently from each other. As the poem begins to reach its climax, the author begins to shift his tone and approach in order to fortify his connection with the readers. Where the first section was composed of finite physical descriptions, separating the two races, the second portion takes a more philosophical approach in order to indicate the woman’s apprehension. The section consisting of “I don’t know if I am in his power… or if he is in my power” ratifies the uncertainty of the woman. The statement is an essential portion of the Olds message because it illustrates that the buffers between whites and blacks are not as they appear to be. The truth is that the woman begins to grasp that the image of the stereotype created in the commencement of the poem is mistaken. The author’s repetition of the word “life” is his way of stating that the connection between the two characters had developed from what it once was. The woman is caught between the concept of who hold the power and who usurps the power of the other. By the time the woman is about to discover the message behind the boy’s and her connection, she once again takes a shift in tone. Within this portion, the reader can clearly see the woman attempting to gain an understanding between her relationships with the boy. At first she interprets the differences they have as a consequence of color “he is black and I am white”. They symbolic “black cotton “alludes to slavery that once again refers to the scars and distinctions that have been enacted by the “white Society”. Nonetheless, the differences between the two individuals stuck in the same space are adjusted in an attempt to bring peace. Olds continues use of repetition acts as an emotional entity that reminds the woman, that like the boy she is human. “This he could break so easily, the way I think his own black is being broken” is used to emphasize the emotional and physical injuries that both races have caused. The message that Sharon Olds are trying to portray through symbolic eyes of the woman and the boy is that although the two races have caused each other pain that has created a buffer between the two of them, they share a connection that’s is held together by their pain, aspirations, and by their humanity.