Nissim Ezekiel’s poem ‘Soap’

Nissim Ezekiel’s poem ‘Soap’

I request readers to read the poem first from the above link and then only my review. Thanks.

This poem stands out for its power in driving home a bitter truth, very subtly using a common verbal duel between two men. The entire poem elaborates a consumer’s anger on a duplicate product in the place of a quality product. The shopkeeper’s audacity works the latter up, and unknowingly he stoops down to the indecent level of the expressions of the former. But in the last stanza the poet subtly highlights the grounds on which one often wins in a duel, that is, the winner by his might, edges out the loser notwithstanding former being righteous. This has a subtle message about how the majority’s number as a brutal strength makes the minority fall silent or give up a just claim rightfully theirs. Ezekiel belongs to a religious minority sect and his expression of the plight of the minorities makes the reader understand the need for each member of any majority group or race to empathetically understand the insults and denial of rights the minority suffer day in and day out. This poem is relevant even today, because we are far from inclusiveness and empathy and religious tolerance.