Living Space

Living Space

1. Imtiaz Dharker

2. Title

   • It is not a home, just a 'space'
   • Ironic as there is little space in these shacks

3. Context

   • Other ID poems represent different cultures
   • ID was born in Pakistan but raised in Scotland

4. Structure

   • 3 stanzas
   • Opens with sarcasm
   • Small middle stanza as if it has been squeezed in
   • Final stanza centres around her admiration for the people
   • Mixed match line length with enjambement make the poem feel like the mixed matched slums

5. 'leans dangerously towards the miraculous

   • Implies her admiration and astonishment at the structure

6. 'Nothing is flat or parallel'

   • Contrast between the western world's buildings

7. 'Nails clutch at open seams.'

   • The nails are all that hold it together and could break at any minute

8. 'squeezed'

   • Just about making enough to live from

9. 'slanted universe'

   • The slanted shanty town is all they will ever know
   • Metaphor for their unequal society and the inequality of the rich and poor

10. 'Gathering light'

    • Symbol of hope