ANIS ZULAIKHA BT BASRAHD20091034413

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

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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:

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"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.

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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 andanxieties. 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, 2011from http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/iraq

Editor of US-IraqProCon.org (2008). Did Saddam Hussein's violation of United Nationresolutions 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. Retrieveon December 9, 2011 from www.npr.org,

Editor of Washington Post (1999). Who are the Kurds?. Retrieved on December 10, 2011 fromhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/feb99/kurdprofile.htm

Editor of whitehouse.org (2011). Presidents. Retrieved on December 10, 2011 fromhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgehwbush

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