Remains Flashcards
this hint at that this events is one of many anecdotes which draws in the readers
“On another occasion”
Armitage
Repetition of this conveys his guilt and bitterness as he is uncertain as he is doubtful of the man opposing a threat to them
“probably armed, possibly not”
this visceral metaphor contrasts shockingly with the previous two stanzas which has a colloquial tone
“rips through his life”
Grotesque imagery yet the actions are cold and casual showing there is no respect for the dead man. “tosses” and “carted off” likens the corps of a human being to rubbish
“tosses his guts back into his body”
alludes to Macbeth: Macbeth the warrior with PTSD and Lady Macbeth’s chronic guilt which ultimately drives her to her suicide. This allusion hints that the speaker has been unbalanced by the guilt just as Macbeth and LM hasbeen
“his bloody life in my bloody hands”
content, meaning purpose
-Written to coincide with a TV documentary about
those returning from war with PTSD. Based on
Guardsman Tromans, who fought in Iraq in 2003.
-Speaker describes shooting a looter dead in Iraq and
how it has affected him.
-To show the reader that mental suffering can persist
long after physical conflict is over.
context
- “These are poems of survivors - the damaged, eshausted men who return from war in body but never, wholly, in mind” - Simon Armitage
-Poem coincided with increased awareness of PTSD
amongst the military, and aroused sympathy amongst
the public ʹ many of whom were opposed to the war.
form and structure
-Monologue, told in the present tense to convey a
flashback (a symptom of PTSD).
-First four stanzas are set in Iraq; last three are at
home, showing the aftermath.
-Enjambment between lines and stanzas conveys his
conversational tone and gives it a fast pace, especially
when conveying the horror of the killing
-The repetition of “Probably armed, Possibly converys
guilt and bitterness.
