Living Space

• ‘Not enough straight lines’ - houses don’t have uniform and regular structure
• The word ‘dangerously’ leans over the page like the structure does. Eyes are drawn to it
• ‘Has squeezed’ - tightly pressed against others like how the verse is pressed between the others
• Poem conveys the poverty of the people and shows their pride and thirst for life, they keep thriving against the odds
• Uneven apperence - uneven structures in shanty town
• Pure whit eggs show the fragility of life and is a symbol of faith and hope
• It’s unlikely that delicate things like eggs aren’t broken in a precarious environment
• The title is ironic as there isn't much "living space" in the slums of Mumbai
• Enjambment


  Reflects how the structures lean over and are on top of each other and the central stanza is "squeezed" in to reflect how living spaces are "squeezed" into small gaps
• Crookedly, clutch, leans dangerously


  Suggests the living spaces are unsafe
• Eggs


  Shows ordinary objects make the slums feel like home and also reflect the fragility of life
• Thin walls of faith


  Suggests the existence of these living spaces is a miracle and implies they still have "faith" even in difficult conditions
• Born in Pakistan but raised in Scotland, Imtiaz Dharker has an interest in representing a different culture
• The poem Living Space

  • Begins with Dharker being sarcastic towards the negative views of the slums

  The middle stanza represents the small 'Living Space' the people have to use as the stanza is 'squeezed' into the middle of the poem

  The poem ends with Dharker's admiration of the people who live in the slums and their positive attitudes towards their negative circumstances
• The whole structure leans dangerously Towards the miraculous