ThisRoomDharker

8/7/2019 ThisRoomDharker

1/14

This Room

by Imtiaz Dharker


2/14

This room is breaking out

of itself, cracking through

its own walls

in search of space, light,

empty air.

What could the room

be a metaphor for?

What do we associate with

rooms?

Does the poetsee the room as

a positive ornegative thing?

What is it

calledwhen anobject is

givenhuman

characteristics?

What doesthis imageremind you

of?


3/14

What do we associate with rooms?

The place where we live.

Private places that belong to us and where

we belong. Rooms can separate people.

They have walls that confine us.

We shut out other people from our rooms.


4/14

The room as a metaphorThe room could be a metaphor for culture.

Cultures are often associated with national

boundaries.

Language, religion, race, social customsetc can form invisible walls keeping others

from understanding what happens in the

room.


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The bed is lifting out of

its nightmares.

From dark corners, chairs

are rising up to crash through clouds.

In which direction are thingsmoving?

Is the

movement into light

ordarkness?


6/14

Why did the poet use the

idea of moving both into

the light and upwards?


7/14

This is the time and place

to be alive:

when the daily furniture of our lives

stirs, when the improbable arrives.

Pots and pans bang together

in celebration, clang

Past the crowd of garlic, onions, spices,

Fly by the ceiling fan.

No one is looking for the door.

Movement gatherspace.

What is ourdaily

furniture?

Could the furniture bethe beliefs or

everyday objects thatclutter our lives?

What tense is used? Why?

Are there anywords that rhyme?

Can you spot anyonomatopoeia?

Why is no one looking for the

door? What does that usually

mean?


8/14

Why is no one looking for the door?

Presumably, because there are now so

many different ways of leaving the room,

without using the conventional route.


9/14

We are not told what is precisely

happening, only that it is

something unforeseen and unlikely

(improbable) so the reader canonly speculate about what is

bringing about this transformation.


10/14

In all this excitement

Im wondering where

Ive left my feet, and why

My hands are outside, clapping.

Speaker leftwondering what it

means to be swept upin excitement.

What does this suggest?


11/14

One's sense of self is also confused - we say

sometimes that we are all over the place, andthe poet depicts this literally, as well - she cannot

find her feet (a common metaphor for gaining a

sense of purpose or certainty) and realizes that

her hands are not even in the same room - andhave taken on a life of their own, applauding.


12/14

Could the poem be about the excitement of

moments when things change? At these

moments our surroundings seem to share our

excitement or its as if they do. We do not

know the cause of this joyful explosion, but it

seems to be bound up with personal happiness

and fulfilment - it might be romantic love, but it

could be other things: maternity, a new job,

artistic achievement, almost anything that is

genuinely and profoundly life-changing.


13/14

More to think about..

In the poem our homes and possessionssymbolise our lives and ambitions in alimiting sense, while change and new

opportunities are likened to space, lightand empty air, where there is anopportunity to move and grow. LikeWalcott's Love After Love it is aboutchange and personal growth - but at anearlier point, or perhaps at repeated pointsin one's life.


14/14

What do you think the poet means by imagining

a room breaking out of itself?

How does the poet suggest ideas of change and

opportunity?

This is a very happy poem - how does Imtiaz

Dharker suggest her joy in it?

What is the effect of the images in the poem - ofrooms, Does the poem give us any clues as to

why this furniture and crockery bursting into life?

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ThisRoomDharker