Remains

Question 1

Analyse the form in Remains

Answer 1

Armitage uses form to be blunt and straight-forward with his point. He shows the horrifying post-traumatic stress that the soldier faces, this is reflected through the irregular stanza length which is visible without even reading the poem. Even before we read the poem, Armitage makes us feel uncomfortable to foreshadow the soldier’s psychological pain.

Question 2

Analyse the opening of Remains

Answer 2

• ,Armitage begins mid-action to intentionally put the reader on the back foot as we aren’t aware of what’s happened / is happening. We are told that on ‘’another occasion’’ they are ‘’sent out’.
• ‘’Another’’ implies that this type of situation has happened before – however it’s ambiguous as we don’t know yet what kind of ‘’occasion’’ this is. Furthermore, the noun ‘’occasion’’ could imply that this was memorable for the soldier – which could show that it’s had a significant impact on him.
• By beginning mid-action, similar to Hughes, Armitage mirrors the chaos the soldiers would face during war-time and the reader is feeling left in the dark

Question 3

Analyse structure in Remains

Answer 3

Whereas, Armitage wants the reader to understand that the trauma is inescapable for those who survive. In the poem, the line ‘’probably armed, possibly not’’ is repeated twice, at the start and end of the poem. From this, we can suggest that the soldier was uncertain as to whether the looter was a threat. Furthermore, the syntax adds to the harrowing notion that he fired and killed without knowing. The repetition at both the start and end creates a cyclical structure, showing how the trauma is inescapable and will come back to haunt him.

Question 4

Analyse the language in Remains

Answer 4

Similarly, Armitage uses colloquial language to criticise the inhumane aspects of war. The speaker in Remains describes one of his ‘’mates’’ tossing the dead man’s ‘’guts back into his body’’. The ‘’tosses’’ and ‘’lorry’’ alludes to bin men – showing the disrespect for human life. There’s juxtaposition between the conversational tone and the horrific image described highlights the horrors of war and how these horrors have become the norm.

Question 5

Analyse the ending of Remains

Answer 5

Similarly, Armitage shows how soldiers escape this trauma they face. There’s the implication that the soldier in Remains will take his own life after describing ‘’his bloody life in my bloody hands’’. The plosive b sounds create a harsh, angry tone – suggests he can’t cope with life. Is it the memory of blood or the soldiers own blood? The personal pronoun ‘’my’’ implies that the soldier is pinning the blame on himself – which we know isn’t fair. However, with this Armitage shows that, in the end, war is not fair.