Remains

Question 1

what is the context for Remains ?

Answer 1

• he wanted to help raise awareness of the effects of war on people
• documentary about the impact of war returning home, poem based of Guardsman Tromans
• raise awareness of PTSD

Question 2

what was the perspective of Remains & how is it used for effect?

Answer 2

• dramatic monologue & present tense
• uses present participles ‘legs it’ ‘tosses’ and ‘are’ - sense of being an account from memory in a flashback - symptoms of PTSD
• poem suggests that the speaker needs to go over the events hes been through in his head to order them & lessen the impact
• interpretation strengthened by the change in his perspective - suggesting he is starting to accept responsibility as well as letting go of suppressed emotions
• accepting his guilt & suffering also includes accepting that he is suffering, colloquial way this is portrayed is like a stream of consciousness, uncensored memories

Question 3

how is the opening in Remains used for effect ?

Answer 3

• opens in media res
• confuses reader, doesn’t know what is going on which mirrors the soldiers for those who are not emotionally prepared for what will come after war
• Armitage, may be commenting on society & how soldiers are launched into confusing situations
• lack of compassion the military has for the individuals they are risking in strategic situations
• media res reflects the chaos of war & the unpredictability
  ‘on another occasion we get sent out’
• typical operation life of a soldier, repeated exposure to suffering & horror - no help recieved

Question 4

how is the ending of Remains used for effect ?

Answer 4

• structure of stanza breaks down - final stanza is 2 lines whereas the rest of the poem is 4 lines
• mirrors the breakdown of soldiers in war reflected in break down of the structure
• ending reveals the source of his internal chaos as being his guilt
  ‘bloody’ - adjective within ‘his bloody life in my bloody hands’
• either describes the violent gruesome nature of death or using it as a slang/curse
  ‘hands’ - symbolic guilt
• shifted from sharing the blame with others at the beginning of the poem to taking sole responsibility for the death of the soldier
• PTSD can shift perspective and can change memories

Question 5

how does the writer use the structure of shifting blame for effect in Remains ?

Answer 5

• at the start: perspective begins trying to excuse what he did and share the blame with others
• ‘my self and somebody else and somebody else’ ‘all three of us’ ‘three of a kind’
  repeated references to their being others allieniates his responsibility - try to minimize his role
• speaker trying to ignore his guilt soldier cant show emotion but must remain brave
  SHIFTS:
• his feeling shifts to him feeling entirely responsible - blames himself entirely
• emphasizes the guilt he feels and how PTSD can warp how a person views past events

Question 6

how does Remains use enjambment for effect ?

Answer 6

‘and i swear//i see every round as it rips through his life’
- causes tension, builds up to violent imagery
- also suggests that the speaker is unable to separate events, as sentence flows his memories flow - unable to isolate a memory
- enjambment occurs at key moments & specifically breaks up the sentences about the death & suffering

Question 7

how is caesura in Remains used for effect ?

Answer 7

‘Then i’m home on leave. But i blink’
- going home should be the end of this memory of the event & the extent of its impact on him, because war shouldn’t impact him once he leaves
- however the conjunction ‘But’ at the start of the 2nd stanza shows how war continues to impact him even when he should be able to escape it
- leave should be a time of relaxation and recovery
‘But i blink’
- creates doubt that this will actually happen, the actual response is separated through enjambment
caesura - interrupts the sentence, just like his memories interrupt his everyday
- forces reader to reflect and consider conflict

Question 8

‘three of a kind’ ‘are all of the same kind’ - Remains - impact of war on soldiers

Answer 8

• soldiers used as tools of war, soldier loses their individuality & humanity
• trained soldiers think the same way as they are made to, suggesting they must suspect everyone as being an enemy
• war breeds a certain kind & changes them all into more aggressive & distrusting people
• soldiers don’t question the morality of killing
• it is only after he starts to question the implications of what he did and his thoughts are altered by PTSD he has suffered as a consequence of the conflict he fought in

Question 9

how does Remains reflect the memory/psychological impact ?

Answer 9

• memory can be corrupted by trauma: can be observed by the readers shift from deflecting to fully accepting the blame
• investigates how PTSD can isolate you and make you feel entirely alone, and how it will change your view on events due to intensified guilt
• ## memory allows conflict to invade the domestic sphere

Question 10

‘probably armed, possibly not’ - Remains - Guilt

Answer 10

• The speaker begins by denying guilt, but eventually reveals his emotional suffering.
• Reflects the expectation for soldiers to appear strong and hide their emotions.
• Describes killing a looter with the phrase: “probably armed, possibly not”.
• The order of words (“probably” before “possibly”) suggests he’s trying to justify his actions.
• Introduces doubt — the looter might have been innocent, increasing the speaker’s guilt.
• The repetition (anaphora) of this phrase later shows how the memory haunts him.
• Highlights his obsession and regret over whether the killing was justified.
• The poem’s cyclical structure mirrors how he is mentally trapped, stuck in the same thoughts.
• The poem’s central theme is guilt, which continues to torment the speaker after the event.