How is language used in 'This Room' by Imtiaz Dharker?

Answer 1

The poem is made up of an extended metaphor that symbolises her moving on from or breaking free from something.

Throughout the poem she uses words that have a large element of movement in them such as "breaking" and "crashing".The words she uses are also onomatopeic so they sound like the actual sound that is made, such as "bang", "clang" and "crash" to show how everyday things become noisy and exciting.

These normal everyday objects are personified because they are doing things that would be impossible for an inanimate object, such as beds, pots and chairs. " The bed is lifting out of it's nightmares" this makes the reader picture something incredible and amazing, something that nobody ever thought could happen, this could parrellel what is happening to her, that she herself is breaking free from something, maybe her nationality and the label that comes with it.

She uses alliteration in the first and second stanza of the poem, "search of space" and " crash through clouds", this along with the onomatopiea strenghthens the sense of forceful, courageous or strong movement.

She uses language to create an exciting atmosphere in stanza three " this is the time and place to be alive" this phrase sums up the joy of the moment and what she is feeling.

She also uses rhyme in stanza 3 when she talks about the "daily furniture of our lives" with "when the improbable arrives" she talks about normal day to day things that she sees in her normal routine and how it is 'stirred' so it is disrupted and this is something that isn't expected to happen so it is 'improbable'. This is used metaphorically to talk about how her breaking free from this 'thing'(may be her nationality but could be a number of things) and how it is not expected, it's a shock and it 'stirs' the normal order of things.

Later in the stanza it uses more onomatopeia to symbolise more movement, celebration and excitement, " Pots and pans bang together, in celebration, clang" this gets the reader to feel and sense the joy and optimism she is feeling.

She then personifies household stored foods, "past the crowd of garlic, onions, spices," this could be indicating that there is a fair amount that she is leaving behind. Or, because these are ingredients associated with Indian cuisine she could just be emphasising that she no longer wants to be identified by traditionally Indian things and again that she is breaking free from that label and is embracingher own identity as an individual.

In the fourth stanza she uses personal pronouns, and is now directly applying the metaphor to herself, "I'm wondering where", this gives the reader more insight into what she may be talking about in the poem and what the message is that she is that she is trying to get across.

She then uses a metaphor of her feet that could be symbolising her roots, "I've left my feet" this may be symbolically related to where she is grounded and that she is no longer attached or bound to it, that is, her nationality. So one part of her is now slightly unstable because of breaking free.

There is a part at the end of the last stanza that is separated, " my hands are outside, clapping" this symbolises her hands no longer being a part as they have broken free and they are 'clapping' or celebrating. So although she has lost a small part of her that may make her feel unstable there is another part of her and is happy and excited, celebrating the fact that she has broken free.

Answer 2

In 'This Room', Imtiaz Dharker uses language to create a sense of intimacy and familiarity with the room being described. The language is rich in sensory details, evoking a vivid image of the space and inviting the reader to experience it on a deeper level. Through the use of language, Dharker conveys the idea of the room as a place of comfort and solace amidst the chaos of the outside world.