remains Flashcards
1
Q
what happens in the poem
A
- the narrator describes how he and other soldiers were sent out to deal with some bank looters. they shoot a man who was potentially unarmed.
- the death is described in graphical detail.
- the soldier is haunted by the images of the dead man and cannot erase the memory.
2
Q
form, structure and context
A
- the poem is written in unrhymed quraints , apart form the final two line couplet, which gives a feeling of finality regarding the men actions and subsequent guilt that they have lived with.
- there is some enjambment within and between stanzas.
- the first half describes the shooting, the second half describes the lasting effects of the soldier once he is home on leave.
- it is written i the present tense, perhaps reflecting the notion that the soldier is constantly reliving the experience, he can not move on from it.
- armistage’s chose of form and layout is mundane, perhaps normalizing the, now commonplace, actions of the soldiers.
3
Q
key quotes
A
- on another occasion
- probably armed, possibly not
- i see every round as it rips through his life
- he’s there on the ground, sort of inside out
- my mate … tosses his guts back into his body
- he’s carted off in the back of a lorry
- his blood shadow stays on the streets
- the drink and drugs wont flush him out
- he’s there in my head when i close my eyes
- his bloody life in my bloody hands
4
Q
language and themes
A
- armitage uses a lot of colloquialisms, phrases such as well, tackle, legs it, letting fly, tosses and end of the story underplay the enormity of what the soldiers have done.
- the imagery used to describe the dead looter is graphic and savage, here armitage emphasizes the horrors of war and makes no attempt to conceal the brutality.
- the narrator has blood on his hands and is struggling to cope with the guilt.
5
Q
what poems could you compare with memory, effects of conflict and individual experience with this poem in
A
- kamikaze
- poppies
- bayonet charge
- war photographer
