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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 and
anxieties. 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, 2011
from http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/iraq
Editor of US-IraqProCon.org (2008). Did Saddam Hussein's violation of United Nation
resolutions 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. Retrieve
on December 9, 2011 from www.npr.org,
Editor of Washington Post (1999). Who are the Kurds?. Retrieved on December 10, 2011 from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/daily/feb99/kurdprofile.htm
Editor of whitehouse.org (2011). Presidents. Retrieved on December 10, 2011 from
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgehwbush