Introduction: Poem Analysis- Those Shoes
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This poem analyzes the themes and issues presented in "Those Shoes" by A. Halim Ali. The poem is a criticism of George W. Bush and the US-Iraq war. It explores themes of wasted war, blurred truth, and power corruption. The first stanza discusses the war in Iraq and Basra city. The second stanza mentions Saddam Hussein's capture and the Kurdish people suffering under both leaders. The last stanza portrays the world's condemnation of Bush. The symbol of "shoes" represents the oppressed position of Iraqis and defense, as well as leaving footprints of tragic memories. The poem reflects growing protest against Bush's administration.
Introduction: Poem Analysis- Those Shoes
- 1. ANIS ZULAIKHA BT BASRAH D20091034413 1 1.0 Introduction This task is assigned to fulfill the requirement for the course Selected Poems in English, BIS 3063. Students are assigned to do the analysis of English poems by local writers of the anthology Poetry of Life: Ecstasies and Anxiety. The chosen poem for this report is Those Shoes by A. Halim Ali. The analysis would be focusing on the theme and issues related to the poem besides a brief explanation on “the shoes” as the symbolical figure in conveying the message of the writer. 2.0 Theme As the title implies, this is a poem which the writer has dedicated to Bush or precisely George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States of America. Hence, the theme is about an apostrophe to the self-acknowledged heroic man whose power has brought destruction to the innocents. Based on historical event, this poem is related to the USA- Iraq war which has begun in 2003. The word “Basra” refers to Basra city, the second largest city in Iraq which has been invaded by the USA, causing corruption and oil smuggling, as well as long-term economic problems to take place. The poem is considered as an apostrophe to “you” which connotes the man who is being criticized for his “wasted war” “blurred truth” and “lame of soul”. The theme is associated with the issues portrayed through every stanza of the poem which include the issues of war, power corruption and transition, injustice and world’s reaction on the man’s action of hypocrisy. The tone of this poem is rather cynical but full of hatred, anger and dissatisfaction. The theme is further analysed as the issues are explained in detail. 3.0 Issues In the first stanza, the issue which is being portrayed touches the event of war in Iraq connoted by the words “Basra” and “wasted war”. The war between Iraq and the USA begins as the result of what has been claimed by some critics as irrelevant and unjustified in correlation to the UN resolution which is later mentioned in the second stanza. It is a wasted one since the cost for the war which has extended to its fourth year by 2007 is bizarre besides the countless number of lives it has claimed. Those years of war in Iraq are regarded as a shameful stay for
- 2. ANIS ZULAIKHA BT BASRAH D20091034413 2 Bush since the situation is absolutely contradicting his mission of liberating the Iraqis from their leader’s aggression and to bring peace to the land. That is why the writer conveys that even the American people should know that Bush has never succeeded in his mission of conquering Iraq since there is no sign of acceptance from the Iraqis as well as the recognition from worldwide nations. Moving on to the second stanza, another character emerges as the rival for Bush which is the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. Going back to historical fact, Saddam Hussein is viewed as a tyrant ruler whom Bush claims as developing weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. Saddam’s cruelty while ruling his nation has resulted him to be recognized by the world as one of the greatest dictator, leading the country violently for about 24 years by 2003. The fact that “he has not yet finished washing his poisoned hands, sniff the stink of the sins and the wounds of the badly hurt Kurds” has signaled his downfall. In real situation, this is referring to the incident where he has been captured on December 2003 with a very haggard and disoriented condition in his hiding place. The issue is about power corruption by Saddam Hussein that he is claimed to have violated the UN resolution. Later, his capture leaves behind his people, the Iraqis with massive destruction which cause them to live in suffer. At this point, the word “Kurds” is used to denote the people of Iraq and they are said to still have “a piece of pride” since the world has never recognized the propaganda of Bush as he tries to show to the world that he has succeeded as the emancipator for the badly affected Iraqis. In this stanza also, the persona is being very sarcastic to provoke Bush to bring the matter to the United Nation Council so that it would be a remarkable achievement of his. However, the persona seems to foresee that the world would have known about his camouflaged mission to conquer Iraq for its wealth which is oil. In other words, his “blurred truth” which is a clear oxymoron that connotes the world’s doubt on his peace mission to liberate the Iraqis from Saddam’s aggression. Ironically, the truth should be apparent and not blurred or vague such as what has been quoted by Bush in a general assembly of the UN:
- 3. ANIS ZULAIKHA BT BASRAH D20091034413 3 "If Iraq's regime defies us again, the world must move deliberately, decisively to hold Iraq to account. We will work with the UN Security Council for the necessary resolutions. But the purposes of the United States should not be doubted. The Security Council resolutions will be enforced -- the just demands of peace and security will be met -- or action will be unavoidable." (Bush, 2002). By the third stanza, the issue has moved to the world’s reaction towards the proud Bush for his hidden mission on conquering Iraq. He is described as the man with lame soul, unconvincing enough for people to recognize his unwanted intervene as a traveler or a stranger who is then showing up to the world only to be condemned as a ruthless man in power. As the poem ends, the “gorge of humiliation” which symbolizes the world’s firm protest towards his action on Iraq is regarded paradoxically as an honour for him to remember. An honour is supposed to be like a reward; recognition for a remarkable achievement but this one would be the one that will make him live being hated by the people from all over the world regardless of time. 4.0 The Shoes as symbolical figure In this poem, what could be inferred from the use of “shoes” is that it may reflect something about position, oppression as well as defense. For position, literally the shoes are worn as the bottom most attire and this would symbolize that position of the Kurds when they are being oppressed and live in fear and suffer during the conflict between Saddam and Bush. Serving as a defense, shoes are literally meant to protect the feet and this fact implies that shoes in the poem symbolize defense for the American as well as the Iraqi to keep on living and pursuing their missions. In another point of view, the shoes may symbolize memorable moments by considering that when the shoes step on the land, they would leave footprints. Those will bring back the memory of tragic experience being in such a depressed situation of war between two rivals.
- 4. ANIS ZULAIKHA BT BASRAH D20091034413 4 That could also be the reason for the use of the phrase “heritage shoes of the American man’’ since heritage means being passed from generation to another. It could somehow allude the episodes of American troops of army keep coming to the land of the Iraqis as the conflict has extended for years. Considering that the poem is written in 2007, by this time in history, Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death while the conflict in Iraq has never ended with more conflicts which are basically caused by the determination to conquer Iraq totally for its oil. In fact, it has been the deadliest year for American troops in Iraq where more than 800 of them were killed. Regardless of what the shoes may symbolize, by looking at the whole title, “Those Shoes (A poem for Bush)”, it reminds me of the phenomenal incident where an Iraqi journalist, Muntathar Al-Zaidi threw his shoes at Bush as the president visited Iraq on December 14, 2008. Despite the fact that this poem is written before this incident took place, it seems to reflect the same message that is the world’s arising and continuous protest on the administration of George W. Bush. References Abdul Halim Ali, Lajiman Janoory, & M.Sidik Ariffin (2011). Poetry of life: Ecstasies and anxieties. Selangor: Univision Press Sdn. Bhd. Daniel, T. (2009). Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush could get book thrown at him. Retrieved on December 7, 2011 from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/02/18/62422 Editor of Free Online Dictionary (2011). Definition. Retrieved on December 10, 2011 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com Editor of Insight on Conflict (2011). Insight of conflict: Iraq. Retrieved on December 10, 2011 from http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/iraq Editor of US-IraqProCon.org (2008). Did Saddam Hussein's violation of United Nation resolutions justify the invasion of Iraq?. Retrieved on December 9 2011 from http://usiraq.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000874 Editor of npr.org (2007). Chronology: A timeline of events in the current Iraqi conflict. Retrieve on December 9, 2011 from www.npr.org, Editor of Washington Post (1999). Who are the Kurds?. Retrieved on December 10, 2011 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/feb99/kurdprofile.htm Editor of whitehouse.org (2011). Presidents. Retrieved on December 10, 2011 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgehwbush