The poem, “Individual vs. Society,” by Josey Tom is a free verse poem that expresses the emotions of a person who is unable to free himself from the pressures of society as he is intimidated by the number of people who are trying to pressure him and sees himself as one. “But they are more and am alone. I am Nothing, They are Everything,” is the line that portrays that he is comparing in numbers instead of strength. If he truly wants to be himself, he can voice his opinion and state what he feels and does not need to justify his desires as it is his own life and is not meddling with someone else’s life. “But they never allowed me,” is a line that sums up the entire poem, as everything he explains he wants to do, he states reasons as to why society restricts him from doing. “But this Nothing, constitutes that. Everything. They forget it,” shows that even though he feels hollow with no substance, he knows that society needs him. By the context of the poem such as the descriptions of what he is not allowed to do such as reading, which symbolizes the restriction of attaining education, not being to fly which represents that he has no freedom to leave, society trying to change his colour by giving fairness creams illustrates that there is racial discrimination and that he is of dark colour. Wanting him to plead gives a further insight as to the poem could be from the perspective of a African- American slave. Looking at his surname instead of his name shows that family reputation is highly valued and judging to see if one was wearing Nike or Adidas meant this wealth led to a higher status in society and more respect to be received.The poem is composed of five stanzas, and 23 verses divided unevenly among them and each it progresses from him stating the limitations society placed on him to how he wants to be free of the limitation’s but since there are more of them, he feels as if he can not do anything about his situation.