Remains Flashcards
Remains: Brief summary
“Remains” reflects on the experiences of war and the PTSD following from these experiences. It tells us of the shooting of a bank robber and the far reaching repercussions of that act on the soldier, both during the act and in the aftermath. It is loosely based on the experiences of Guardsman Tromans, a soldier who fought in Iraq in 2003. The poem seeks to highlight the pervasive effects of war and the mental burden it places on those who fight in it.
Remains: Context (6)
- Written for “The Not Dead” on Channel 4, raised awareness on PTSD.
- Based on heart wrenching experiences of Guardsman Tromans in the 2003 Iraq War.
- Remains seeks to highlight the virulent effects of war by exploring the psychological effects on the soldiers, which contrasts other typical presentations of war as glorious or noble.
- The poem and documentary came at a time of changing public opinions on war.
- Armitage presents conflict as more visceral and real than those who have come before him.
- Exposes lack of support for soldiers in need and the inner humanity of people often viewed as emotionless and stoic.
“probably armed, possibly not”
Anaphora of “probably armed, possibly not” is repeated throughout poem to show ow he is still wracked with doubt and guilt as to if the man was a threat; begins with “probably” as that is what the speaker wants to believe, but the sliver of doubt remains in “possibly not”. Usage of cyclical structure shows how he keeps coming back to this doubt; his guilt is the crux of his suffering.
“his bloody life in my bloody hands”
- Adjective of “bloody” in “his bloody life in my bloody hands” could hold a double meaning. Could refer to literal blood from the barbaric death or as a means of cursing. Colloquial language here shows how soldiers are expected to remain stoic and brave.
- Contrast between “my bloody hands” with “myself and somebody else and somebody else” shows how he is gradually coming to terms with his culpability and guilt instead of putting the blame on other people. Shift in speaker’s recollection of events shows how memory is not infallible and can be corrupted. It also shows the virulent effects of dwelling on the event over and over again.
- “myself and somebody else and somebody else” is an attempt to syntactically cram the sentence with other individuals in order to shift the blame from solely being on him.
- “His bloody life in my bloody hands” echoes Macbeth, for example Macbeth saying “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”. Blood is used as a motif for guilt in both texts, showing how the root cause of the soldier’s suffering is guilt. This also may insinuate that the soldier views his killing of the looter as unjust in a similar way to Macbeth’s killing of Duncan.
“three of a kind” “all of the same mind”
War causes soldiers to lose their humanity “three of a kind” and “all of the same mind” shows how they are all conditioned to be the same. Three of a king could also be referring to Poker, showing how these evens may be just a game to the soldiers. “A kind” demonstrates how war has stolen all individuality and uniqueness from them as there is nothing to separate them now.
Remains: Enjambment
- “And I swear / I see every round..” Shows the speaker unable to separate events; his trauma causes all these experiences to be mixed into one continuous dialogue.
- May also mirror how his memories mix into present mental frame.
- Enjambment occurs at key moments of death and suffering, perhaps showing how the suffering breaks him just as it breaks the structure.
Remains: Caesura
- “Then I’m home on leave. But i blink” Full stop in the middle of the sentence provides finality, like that should be the end of the matter.
- However, the conjunction of ‘but’ emphasises that there is always more and that his suffering is never over; it pervades his life at home.
- Caesura interrupts the sentence, similar to how the flashbacks to the conflict interrupt the speaker’s day to day life.
- Caesura also forces the reader to stop and think on the conflict just as the speaker does.
Remains: Dramatic monologue
- Poem is in Dramatic Monologue and in the present tense. Paints a picture of it being a traumatic account from memory.
- Shifts in perspective throughout monologue mirrors the soldier coming to terms with his guilt.
- Usage of colloquial language shows how the soldier is accustomed to violence, whilst the very act of the soldier discussing his emotions goes against what society would traditionally see as a “masculine” soldier, repressing his emotion.
Remains: Regular quatrains
- Highlights the regularity of his PTSD and the rigid, unrelenting control it has on him.
- May show how experiences of conflict and guilt resulting from them are also regular.
- The last stanza is only two lines, contrasting with the regularity of the stanzas before. This may be to emphasise that the speaker still feels guilt over the death or to emphasise the speaker’s disintegration of mind. However, it could also be interpreted to being the speaker breaking free from the hold that the event had on him, highlighting some semblance of hope for the future.
Remains: Colloquial language
- “I swear” “legs it” “mates” “bloody”
- Semantic field of colloquial language shows how the violence and brutality is commonplace.
- The casual nature of the soldier’s vernacular mirrors his casual nature to violence as a result of him becoming desensitised after years of war.
