"Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio" by James Wright

Aspirations of a Better Life In the poem "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio," the author, James Wright, tells a tale of a seemingly small, lower class, blue-collar community, whose love for football borders on fantasy. In Martins Ferry, football was a method of eluding the world the citizens were trapped in. Rural American sports, especially high school sports, has lost it purity, or essence of being a fun past time, and has come to …

…little or no education. The fathers dream and reminisce of the days they were playing the very same sport; maybe wishing it would have carried them further. The sons who play the sport either realize that this sport is their only ticket out of this town and, "gallop terribly against each other's bodies"(12), or don't realize this is the best is gets. Kirszner & Mandell. LITERATURE: READING, REACTING, WRITING. Fourth ed. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc., 2001. (766).