people are poor, indicating that even their gods
are poor. He goes on to declare that his people
are dead and drowned.
THEMESWar
Throughout ‘‘America, America,’’ the speaker
addresses war both in general terms and in
terms of what is happening to his people and
his country. The speaker does not think highly
of war as a solution to the problems faced by his
country.
The poem opens with images of a military
leader who oversaw a prison in the desert, with
the speaker viewing the general as a simpleton
who is unable to see the cruelty and reality of the
prison because he is only capable of seeing forts
and battlefields in the world. Since the camp is a
building, or something that rises up from the
ground, he sees it only as a fort. In the same
section, the speaker blasts the foreign press for
exploiting the tragedy brought on by the mili-
tary. A French newspaper features prominently
on its front page a photograph of a bomb victim.
The media’s awareness of the war prompts them
to find a safe place to park their trucks (say,
away from the threat of neutron bombs), such
that the media does not connect with the real
tragedy suffered by the Iraqi people.
In section three, the speaker bemoans the
presence of bomber planes and heavily equipped
soldiers. To him, these things represent not hope
and peacemaking but destruction and fear. He
tries to impress upon the Americans that he and
his people are the ones who suffer, even though
they are not the enemy, as their villages are
compromised and their way of life is disrupted
by the presence of the military. In the last sec-
tion, the speaker again implores the Americans
to understand that the Iraqi people should not be
treated as hostages; their lives have been
destroyed, and their situation seems utterly
hopeless.
Peoplehood
‘‘America, America’’ is an expression of the voice
of Youssef’s people.Peoplehoodrefers to the
collective identity and experience of a commun-
ity of people, often as bound together by ethnic-
ity. This concept is a strong element in ‘‘America,
America.’’ The voice of the poem reads like the
voice of a common Iraqi man or woman. It is not
a voice specific to Youssef but one that expresses
the frustrations, fears, and hostility of the aver-
age Iraqi. The speaker is not a soldier, a politi-
cian, or a government leader. He is merely a man
crying out in the midst of the destruction and
chaos brought on by the Americans.
When the speaker talks, he often frames his
ideas in terms of the Iraqi culture and way of
life.HeismovedtospeakonbehalfofIraqisTOPICS FOR
FURTHER
STUDY Choose two other poems from theDamas-
cus/Ammansection ofWithout an Alphabet,
Without a Faceto compare and contrast with
‘‘America, America.’’ Create a chart that
reflects your findings.
Research the sanctions imposed against Iraq
in the 1990s. What events led to the decision
to establish these sanctions? What was the
outcome supposed to be? What was the
eventual outcome? What were the major
arguments for and against the sanctions?
Write a report discussing your findings.
Read about the work and character of the
Iraqi poets Badr Shakir al-Sayyab and Nazik
al-Malaika, who were influences on Youssef
and other modern poets. What were the tra-
ditional forms of Arabic poetry prior to their
careers? What changes did they spearhead?
Write a poem in the traditional Arabic form,
then write about the same topic in the style of
Youssef and his predecessors.
Find at least five examples of traditional
Arabic art and at least five examples of mod-
ern Arabic art. Architecture may be used for
one or two examples. Then find at least three
examples of traditional Arabic poetry. What
shifts do you notice in the evolution of art in
Arabic culture? Give a class presentation in
which you draw parallels (or contrasts)
between art and literature. Lead a discussion
on what may account for these changes.America, America