Poetry - The Manhunt

Question 1

Who wrote manhunt

Answer 1

Simon Armitage

Question 2

Manhunt context

Answer 2

Part of collection and documentary called the “not dead”
Read by Laura from the perspective of her husband, Eddie Beddoes

Told from the perspective of a soldier’s wife - Laura Beddoes

Written in 1998 to explore the effects of PTSD on soldiers returning from Bosnia.

Rhyme scheme reflects the impact of the injury on Eddie and his relationship with Laura

Armitage worked closely with Laura to capture the complexity of living with someone with PTSD, as well as its effects on the victim

Poem transcends the circumstances of C21st war and makes us think of other wars whilst also being a profound and moving love poem - addresses common issues after war

Question 3

“After the first phase
After passionate nights and days”

Answer 3

Rhyming couplet - talks about early relationship between the narrator and his wife
Adjectives “passionate” and “intimate” both open poem in a positive way.

Question 4

Only then he would let me trace
The frozen river which ran through his face

Answer 4

Creates harrowing image of soldier’s injury
Adjective frozen suggests the scar is frozen and solid
River metaphorically refers to the path of the bullet

Question 5

Comparisons for The manhunt

Answer 5

The Soldier - war

Question 6

Themes for The manhunt

Answer 6

War
Relationships

Question 7

Possible topic statements for the manhunt

Answer 7

Armitage uses Laura’s poem, The Manhunt, as a vehicle to expose the effects of war on soldiers and also challenge
idealistic stereotypes of soldiers after coming back from war. Throughout the poem, he distorts the conventional ideas of soldiers returning strong and brave. For Armitage, war is presented as messy and unhonorable, not worth dying for than an act of martyr.

Question 8

Structure of ‘The Manhunt’

Answer 8

Each couplet explores a different injury and moves further into his body/mind - allows reader to explore him as the narrator does

Short middle stanza emphasises how physical scars may look worse, but mental scars have far more effect

Question 9

The Manhunt form

Answer 9

Couplets
Full rhyme at beginning - reflects initial harmony in couple
Half rhyme towards end - mirrors deterioration of relationship

Question 10

Progression of ‘The Manhunt’

Answer 10

First part - harmonious relationship (rhyme)
Second part - explores physical scarring (relationship deteriorates - half rhyme)
Third part - explores mental scarring
Fourth part - hopeful, but not yet there (half rhyme of closed and close)

Question 11

The Manhunt title

Answer 11

Suggests an official search for a missing person
Suggests that the man she once knew is lost - negative tone instantly created

Question 12

After the first phase, after passionate nights and intimate days

Answer 12

Rhyming couplet - Echoes a traditional love poem and suggests the couple are reconnecting

Question 13

Frozen river

Answer 13

His tears are unable to fall yet - also an extended metaphor from “the source” later on in the poem suggesting that his mental scarring runs through his face from his mind

Question 14

Blown hinge of his lower jaw

Answer 14

He is unable to talk about his experiences - displays mental scarring through image of physical scarring

Question 15

Anaphora of “and” at the beginning of lines 7, 9 and 11

Answer 15

Creates a sense of listing and therefore emphasises the sheer quantity of things that are wrong with him

Question 16

only then

Answer 16

This phrase is repeated many times
Portrays his slow and painstaking recovery and their reconciliation as a couple

Question 17

handle and hold

Answer 17

Alliteration - emphasises her care for him and also her cautiousness

Question 18

porcelain and silk

Answer 18

Suggest his vulnerability - he is a delicate being
His beauty in the eyes of the narrator

Question 19

fractured rudder
parachute silk
rings
porcelain
blown hinge

Answer 19

Describe his body parts as a collection of inanimate objects - suggests his mental scarring is taking away his humanity - makes him appear less alive
War imagery to insinuate epithets of war in him

Question 20

What does “fractured rudder” suggest?

Answer 20

He is unable to cope (steer himself) emotionally - she has to do it for him

Question 21

What effect does “rungs” have?

Answer 21

Creates an image of a ladder - reflective of wife’s gradual, step-by-step search

Question 22

What effect do “finger and thumb”, “mind and attend” and “handle and hold” have on the reader?

Answer 22

Tricolon of verb structures suggests her active part in his recovery

Question 23

What does “parachute silk of his punctured lung” suggest?

Answer 23

Creates an image of a broken parachute - would be useless - reflects how he feels about himself

Question 24

List the words that show the semantic field of care and explain what they suggest

Answer 24

“Trace “
“Mind and attend “
These are gentle - show that she is careful and affectionate
“Bind “
Shows how she is helping him to regain his strength - stress how carefully and delicately she cares for him
“feel the hurt “
Stresses how close she is to him - she feels his hurt too

Question 25

What does “skirting along” suggest?

Answer 25

Suggests how cautiously she has to tread around him so as not to set off his PTSD

Question 26

What do the images of broken body parts suggest?

Answer 26

Suggest that casualties of war have vulnerability of both mind and body

Question 27

What does “grazed heart” suggest?

Answer 27

Suggests he is no longer able to connect with his wife or feel positive emotion

Question 28

What does “fœtus of metal” suggest?

Answer 28

It suggests a continued growth of his pain - it will only grow stronger with time

Could also suggest that his scarring will change their relationship permanently like a new baby would

Question 29

What does “sweating, unexploded mine” suggest?

Answer 29

Metaphor - suggests that the source of his problem is mental and it threatens to cause problems at any time - The worst is yet to come

Question 30

What does the enjambment between “around which” and “every nerve” do?

Answer 30

It suggests the speaker’s desire to keep making progress, even if it’s slow

Also emphasises “every nerve” which suggests that he is completely consumed by his mental scarring

Question 31

What does the perfect verb “closed” suggest?

Answer 31

He is completely closed off from emotion and from the narrator - and that it will be permanent

Question 32

What is the effect of the last line, “Then, and only then, did I come close.” ?

Answer 32

The only one line sentence in the poem - gives emphasis to the wife’s realisation that her husband psychological scars are worse than his physical ones, and that she’ll never truly be able to understand his suffering

Question 33

What does the half rhyme of “closed” and “close” suggest?

Answer 33

Gives a muted ending - the speaker has made progress but can only “come close”