Honour Killing

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  • Honour Killing - Imtiaz Dharker
    • Stanza 1
      • disowning an identity
      • "at last" tells the reader that they are looking at the end of a journey for someone
      • she disowns her "coat" a garment meant to shield a person from harsh weather -tells the reader she has decided to step away from protection
      • she says she wore the coat "out of habit" conveys she placed very little thought and heart behind it
      • disowning the coat and giving justifications as to why she feels the need to renounce it
      • "born wearing it" "believed [she] had no choice" gives the impression of a complicated history with the coat
    • Stanza 2
      • a declaration that she's getting rid of the veil
      • shows a religious and cultural background
      • not just the physical veil she is disowning but also the 'faith that made [her] faithless" -she is struggling to connect with the person she used to be
      • she doesn't want to be hidden behind a veil figuratively speaking and literally
      • holding onto the veil was an injustice to herself and her true identity
      • 'tied my mouth" emphasising she was restrained and could  not express herself
      • the narrators anger and resentment to her previous self is evident saying the veil gave her 'god a devil's face'
      • Difficult to speak up against something that is deeply embedded in your community and culture
    • Stanza 3
      • her culture began to ***** her of her independence and unique identity
      • doesn't want others go decide how her body should be dressed
      • frees herself from the "silks" that are embedded in the culture to enhance her femininity
      • takes  off her cultural jewellery stating that abiding by her cultural dress code she had been "beggared' of her true self.
        • dressing traditionally makes her feel trapped and *****ped of any kind of individuality
    • Stanza 4
      • statement of independence and freedom
      • shortest stanza allows it to focus on the message and draw attention to the importance of it
      • announcing that she is "taking off this skin"
        • Skin being the most intimate garment and being essential part of anyone's identity
          • she is detaching herself at every level from this culture that dictates who she should be
            • "the face, the flesh, the womb" taking away the intimate connections a person has to their identity and her femininity
              • by disowning these she emphasises how deeply she wishes to sever her ties to the person and identity she one owned
    • Stanza 5
      • begins with "let's see" which implies she is moving forward to the future focusing on self analysis
      • she wants to know if she can take these stands when the ideas and emotions of her heart "squeeze past the easy cage of bone"
        • when her ideologies leave her body and meet the world will she continue to stand up for herself
    • Stanza 6
      • she has made the choice and has come "out" of the cultural dictatorship she has been enduring
      • "making, crafting, plotting" convey she is working towards becoming a person who creates plans for herself rather than following expectations of society.
      • "new geography" suggests she has moved herself physically to somewhere her identity is accepted

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