Remains

Question 1

What are the most important quotes from Remains?

Answer 1

• “probably armed, possibly not”
• “I see every round as it rips through his life”
• “sort of inside out”
• “my mates goes by and tosses his guts…”
• “his bloody life in my bloody hands”

Question 2

Analyse : “probably armed, possibly not”

Answer 2

• the aside “possibly not” undermines the severity of the statement and it makes us wonder how someones life could be left up to a split decision between self protection and a mistake.
• this line is repeated further on in the poem suggesting that this one judgement he made haunts him even in his dreams. It shows how severe the effects of war really are. It shows the mental termoil the soldiers have to suffer through on a daily basis.

Question 3

What poem does this quotation come from? “probably armed, possibly not”

Answer 3

Remains

Question 4

Analyse : “I see every round as it rips through his life”

Answer 4

• Graphic Hyperbole used to demonstrate the lack of glory or honour in this killing, it is not pretty but is still very matter of a fact.
• It makes the reader imagine the scene and we recoil but it allows us to think of how unjust war really is which was the peoms purpose.
• The colloquial and matter of a fact suggests desensitisation and the lack of emotion suggests that his has been dehumatised.

Question 5

What poem does this come from? “I see every round as it rips through his life”

Answer 5

Remains

Question 6

Analyse : “sort of inside out”

Answer 6

• Dehumanised “lutter”, “sort of inside out” makes the victim appear more of an object than what was moments ago a living breathing person. It suggests the lack of emotions in war and how quickly you are forgotten in a place were death is constant. Creates a nasty scene.

Question 7

What poem is “sort of inside out” from

Answer 7

Remains

Question 8

Analyse “my mates goes by and tosses his guts…”

Answer 8

• Colloquialism : “mates”. almost makes this appear like a normal night out with his friends which is a sharp contrast from reality. This suggests that this has become his new every day life which shows the complete lack of morals in war zones.
• The nature of what is happening, a violent killing is juxtaposed to the relaxed way he talks about the event

Question 9

What poem is “my mates goes by and tosses his guts…” from

Answer 9

Remains

Question 10

Analyse : “his bloody life in my bloody hands”

Answer 10

• Pun, bitter and dark humour. Bloody meaning covered in blood but also an expression of anger and hate. The soldier is at conflict with this dead man, but more with his own mind. Ends the poems with a sense of despair and open ended, no resolution.

Question 11

What is “his bloody life in my bloody hands” from