Oranges

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1985

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Poem Analysis

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Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

“That Girl” by Gary Soto (1985)

This poem, also from Black Hair, details an adolescent boy’s crush on a girl in the library, echoing the infatuation the boy has for the girl in “Oranges.” In "That Girl," the male speaker has trouble concentrating on his studies because he keeps looking at an attractive girl nearby, making it an interesting companion piece to a poem in which boy and girl have a successful romantic connection.

“Saturday at the Canal” by Gary Soto (1991)

This poem's 17-year-old speaker and his friend hang around a canal and wish for an escape away from high school and the confines of their homes in Fresno. Like “Oranges,” this poem captures a specific landscape and time period in the speaker’s life. It, too, explores themes of poverty and hope.

“Pomegranate as My Heart” by Gary Soto (2009)

This poem, which appears in the collection Partly Cloudy, employs very similar imagery to “Oranges.” The speaker who doesn’t “have much to offer” (Line 1) holds a fruit in their hands while waiting for someone to “come out” (Line 13). The speaker wants to share the “jewels” (Line 9) of the fruit with someone who is “beautiful” (Line 5). Like the boy wanting to give the girl in “Oranges” the gift of candy, here the speaker promises that if the pomegranate cracks open, “I’ll give you the largest part” (Line 18).

Further Literary Resources

Gary Soto—Poet by Gary Soto (2022)

Soto’s official webpage offers a list of his publications, a biography, and a section called "I Can Answer That!" that discusses his writing process and the poem “Oranges” specifically. Soto explains that a walk to a Fresno mall with his crush Margarita when he was 13 served as the impetus for the poem he wrote years later.

Gary Soto by Dennis Abrams (2013)

This book about Soto, written for elementary to middle grade readers, details Soto’s biography, his working methods, and the critical responses to his books. It contains a discussion of Black Hair in general, and “Oranges” in particular. Large sections of the book are available via Google Books.

Interview with Gary Soto by TeachingBooks.net (2007)

In this interview for a website about books aimed at teachers and students, Soto discusses his use of form, meter, and imagery. He also talks about his childhood, his Mexican-American heritage, and activism. Finally, he gives advice to students and teachers.

Listen to the Poem

“Oranges” read by Gary Soto (2019)

Gary Soto read “Oranges” on November 7, 2019, during the Morton Marcus Poetry Reading at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The poem appears at the 38.18-minute mark. Soto reads a revised version of the poem, published in 1983. Slight changes include modernized language: The boy is now 13 years old, the girl wears makeup instead of rouge, and she now selects a chocolate candy bar rather than just chocolate from the drugstore. The most significant change is line added at the end of the first stanza. This version of the poem clarifies what the saleswoman understands in her silent communication with the boy: Here, she knows "Very well what it was all / About. Love, I mean" (Lines 41-42), to emphasize one of the poem’s predominant themes.