Questions Identity Card

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Questions: Identity Card
Question 1
The narrator is a proud Arab man. Since he does not say his name, there is a strong implication that the narrator is an average Palestinian man describing his life and how he feels about it.
Question 2
From the introductory paragraphs and use of first-person narration in the poem, there is an implied connection between the narrator and Mahmoud Darwish, the writer. In the poem, the narrator repeatedly refers to himself as “an Arab man.” The reference suggests connecting his experiences to the experiences of fellow Palestinians. From the poem, Palestinians are displaced from their land and suffering because they have to find their sustenance from “rocks.” Contrasting the rocks with the orchards the narrator claims were stolen from his people shows that Palestinians are suffering and they have been given “names without titles.” Despite their suffering, the narrator claims he will not belittle himself. A recurrent theme in the poem is that Palestinians are also concerned with hatred from the audience. In the end, the narrator claims that despite their peaceful nature, Palestinians will not accept starvation.
Question 3
In the last stanza, the narrator warns “the usurper’s flesh will be my food” and also directs the usurper to “beware of my hunger and my anger.” These claims reinforce assertions of struggling to feed struggling families. For instance, in the poem, the narrator claims he has to feed six children from rocks.

A juxtaposition of the rocks with the orchards and land full of pines and olives in the third stanza captures a sense of bitterness in the narrator. A sarcastic intonation of the fourth stanza, posing the question “are you satisfied with my status?” comes after the question “will you be angry?” concludes the first two stanzas. The sarcasm captures the anger. The statements of pride such as learning how “the pride of the sun” and the claim that the narrator would not belittle himself feed the notion of anger that develops in the final stanza. The severe warning also suggests that “hunger” may be a reference to bitterness and a thirst for revenge rather than the literal meaning of hunger.

Work Cited
Darwish, Mahmoud. Identity Card.