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A Century Later Poem Analysis

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“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” declared by an influential leader Martin Luther King Jr. As a soldier againsts unfairness, King strongly states that people should fight for freedom. Driven by human nature, humans are always chasing freedom. In “A Century Later,” the Pakistan-born British poet Imtiaz Dharker uses the poetic devices of symbolism, diction, and allusion to explore how perseverance drives freedom. Imtiaz Dharker uses the symbolism of bells and flowers to reveal that people insist on fighting despite of difficulty. In order to reveal the perseverance of finding freedom, Dharker makes the contradiction between the present-day civilization and the past savagery by using the …show more content…

Dharker emphasizes the message of freedom by stating the goal of schoolgirls is gaining “the right to be ordinary” (15). The “ordinary” dream reveals that the girls want to be treated equally. They want to be able to “go to school” and have the right to chace beauty (18). By using “ordinary”, Dharker demonstrates how little rights girls in Pakistan have (15). As young girls, they are supposed to be free to think, talk, and do what they want. However, due to the war, oppressive rules of government happen in life, and they have to give up freedom in order to live. Dharker expresses the desire of being free and determination of perseverance by stating the goal of being “ordinary” (15). She uses another word, “swarm,” to represent the intense of war: “A murmur, a swarm. Behind her,/ one by one, the schoolgirls are standing up” (23-24). Swarm demonstrates that there are a large number of schoolgirls who are defending freedom. The word “Swarm” illustrates the fierce war by describing the numerous soldiers (23). It creates a tense tone and indicates the difficulty of holding perseverance. Dharker uses the device of diction to describe both schoolgirls and the enemy to show that perseverance results in

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