Living Space by Imtiaz Dharker

Question 1

Living Space
Person?
Form?
Structure?

Answer 1

1st, outsider observing, reader in same position
Free verse, repeated enjambment, caesura, Disjointed effect, mirrors chaotic structure of slums
Contrasting images of light and dark, Despite poverty there is hope

Question 2

Living Space
Context?

Answer 2

-Lives between Mumbai and London, sees contrast between them
-Politically motivated, comments on inequality and lack of help
-Based on Mumbai but can apply to many cities

Question 3

Living Space
5 quotes

Answer 3

‘Nails clutch at open seams’
‘someone has squeezed /a living space’
‘eggs in a wire basket’
‘hung out over the dark edge’
‘bright, thin walls of faith’

Question 4

Living Space
‘Nails clutch at open seams’

Answer 4

-Verb, personifies city, tenacity to stay up
-Could be metaphor for people’s desperation, hope for opportunity
-Instability, unsafe

Question 5

Living Space
‘someone has squeezed/a living space’

Answer 5

-Short stanza mirrors buildings squashed together, claustrophobic
-Lack of identity, normal, overcrowding, impersonal, observing
-Isn’t homely, means of survival

Question 6

Living Space
‘eggs in a wire basket’

Answer 6

-Symbol of fragile, vulnerable society, of new generations, of optimism
-Relying on ‘basket’ to keep safe, like unstable housing

Question 7

Living Space
‘hung out over the dark edge’

Answer 7

-Verb, exposure of fragile beings
-Fearful, threatening image, danger, risk of living in poverty
-Contrast of perfect egg shape to jagged ‘edge’ of city, perilous place

Question 8

Living Space
‘bright, thin walls of faith’

Answer 8

-Adjective, hope and light created by residents despite circumstances
-Metaphor, optimism narrowly protects them from harsh reality of their lives
-Hopeful ending, money can’t take away beliefs, contrast negative opening, condemns government, respects people