Remains Summary And Analysis Flashcards
How does Armitage show the guilt the soldier feels
To reflect the sense of guilt the soldier feels
‘Myself and somebody else and somebody else’
- repetition used to deflect the blame from the soldier
- syntactically the line now becomes dominated by the others suggesting the speaker wants to minimalist the role the speaker took in the event
- however this is contrasted by the quotation ‘my bloody life in my bloody hands’ —> pronoun used is ‘my’ which makes a change in the soldier’s perception
- soldier is taking personal responsibility at the end
- deals with the consequences alone
How does Armitage show the life changing moment when the soldier shot the looter
Enjambment: “three of a kind all letting fly, and I swear i see every round as it rips through his life
- continues onto whole new stanza
- this break between the action causes the reader to stop and emphasises that this is the very moment which ruined the soldiers life
- from this point on, the soldier becomes a very different person
- the forced break of line and stanza reflects the broken man he becomes
What is the effect of Armitage’s sentence form
Reflects the trauma the soldier experienced: ‘Then I’m home on leave.’ - full stop suggests it’s over but this is not the case
The trauma of conflict is never over
How does Armitage reinforce the idea that the trauma if conflict is never over
Through cyclical structure
Line 22 is repetition of line 4: “probably armed, possibly not”
- repetition suggests that the trauma the soldier has experienced is inescapable
“His blood shadow stayed on the street”
How does Armitage’s use of vague language reflects the indescribable horror of war
‘He’s on the ground, sort of inside out’
‘Sort of’ is very vague which reflects the impossibility of describing the true horrors of war. It suggests that, despite his army training, the speaker is not prepared to kill someone in reality
Which quotation refers to substance abuse. And explain the effect
“The drink and the drugs won’t flush him out”
- ‘flush’ - imagery links to sickness (if you have a fever you need to flush it out) - flesh in this sense is to rid of something unpleasant
- ‘flush’ suggests that the soldier is now unclean and sick due to the shooting
What war imagery is used to describe the looter is still in the soldiers head
The metaphor: ‘dug in behind enemy lines’
- may be fitting if in battle, however, he is in his own home on leave
- this use of war imagery while on leave reflects the impact war has had on him - it’s inescapable even in a domestic setting
Which poems compare well with this about the true horrors of war
COTLB, Exposure, Bayonet Charge, War Photographer
Poems to compare it with on the impact war has on domestic life
War Photographer, Poppies, Kamikaze
