Remains Flashcards

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1
Q

‘His bloody life in my bloody hands’

A
  • Literal blood, gory imagery, shows amount of destruction
  • Swearing, torment of PTSD
  • Guilt, metaphorical, allusion to Macbeth
  • Responsibility as it links to common phrase ‘my life is in your hands’ forces the reader to show the serious effects of PTSD as it contrasts a casual phrase to the harsh reality of a soldier
  • In the final stanza with just two lines, this could show the disintegration of the soldiers mental health and a possible breakdown at the end as it had been regular throughout and the poem has built up to the end
  • Links to the dual meaning of the title, remains of body and trauma
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2
Q

Structure

A
  • Enjambment, conversational nature of poem, keen to get it off his chest, talking to a therapist, shows how overwhelmed his mind is, story like nature makes it more personal
  • Clearly an account from the past, yet it is written in 1st person which could show lasting effects of the incident, memories still with him
  • Colloquial language, helps the reader to view soldiers as real people, also suggests youthfulness which creates sympathy, casual speech later shows how they are desensitised to the events
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3
Q

‘On another occasion, we got sent out’

A
  • Media res, mirrors confusion of soldier as they’re not emotionally prepared
  • May be Armitage making a societal comment, soldiers are launched into situations they don’t understand
  • It isn’t an exceptional case, it’s the day to day reality for soldiers
  • ‘Sent out’ - often refers to punishment, compares war to this, compares them to children
  • This alongside the slang language suggests the soldier is young/inexperienced
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4
Q

‘One of my mates goes by/
and tosses his guts back into his body’

A
  • Colloquial language
  • ‘Goes by’ - he doesn’t want to pause on this memory, tries to brush past it
  • Sibilance, reinforces the sinister mood which the narrator tries to pass off as normal
  • Sounds like a metaphor, ‘toss your guts’ means to be sick, reflects how the narrator feels about it now?, PTSD
  • ‘Tosses’ - lack of respect, shows how conflict causes the devaluation of human life
  • Rhyme adds fluidity, they’re used to it, desensitised
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