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Ace your exam with this analysis of Imtiaz Dharker's 'These are the Times We Live in'

Analysis
Imtiaz Dharker’s These are the Times We Live in is a powerful exploration of identity, suspicion, and the quiet violence of systemic prejudice. Written in the second person, the poem places the reader directly in the position of someone being scrutinised at a border — not for what they’ve done, but for how they look. Through subtle irony and surreal imagery, Dharker reveals how ordinary moments become charged with fear and judgement. It’s a poem about how easily humanity is overlooked in the name of security — and how, in the end, even your sense of self can be erased.

00:00 Intro
00:05 Context
02:18 Structural overview
05:43 Line-by-line analysis

Additional resources
For more exam tips, resources, and one-to-one tutoring, visit my website: www.clairesnotes.com
Check out the rest of my videos on the poems from the Cambridge iGCSE Vol 2 2026 onwards anthology:    • Songs of Ourselves Vol 2 2026  

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The Poem
These are the Times We Live in by Imtiaz Dharker

You hand over your passport. He
looks at your face and starts
reading you backwards from the last page.

You could be offended,
but in the end, you decide
it makes as much sense
as anything else,
given the times we live in.

You shrink to the size
of the book in his hand.
You can see his mind working:
Keep an eye on that name.
It contains a Z, and it just moved house.
The birthmark shifted recently
to another arm or leg.
Nothing is quite the same
as it should be.
But what do you expect?
It’s a sign of the times we live in.

In front of you,
he flicks to the photograph,
and looks at you suspiciously.

That’s when you really have to laugh.
While you were flying,
up in the air
they changed your chin
and redid your hair.

They scrubbed out your mouth
and rubbed out your eyes.
They made you over completely.

And all that’s left is his look of surprise,
because you don’t match your photograph.
Even that is coming apart.

The pieces are there
But they missed out your heart.

Half your face splits away,
drifts on to the page of a newspaper
that’s dated today.

It rustles as it lands.


About Me
I’m an experienced English teacher with over 25 years of classroom and private tutoring experience. My videos are tailored to help students achieve top marks in AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, CCEA and Cambridge IGCSE English exams.

Please note that any literature analysis is highly subjective and may disagree with analysis by another person. All interpretations are valid if they can be justified by reference to the text. This interpretation is my own: it is not exhaustive and there are alternatives!

Let’s Discuss!
How does the speaker use the journey through airports and cities to explore feelings of rootlessness and disconnection?
In what ways does the poem reflect the tension between global mobility and personal identity?
How do small, everyday details — like luggage, maps, or technology — take on deeper meaning in the poem?
And finally, is the poem simply describing modern life — or is it challenging us to think differently about freedom, control, and belonging?

Share your interpretations in the comments — I’d love to hear how you read it!