The Man He Killed

Question 1

(TMHK) themes

Answer 1

• death
• duty
• doubt
• futility

Question 2

(TMHK) Author background (Thomas Hardy)

Answer 2

• anti-war
• he wrote about the Boer war
• he writes from the perspective of a working class soldier - highlights the similarities between both sides

Question 3

(TMHK) Structure

Answer 3

• dramatic monologue - the enemy soldier can’t discuss their motivations - highlights how they are unknown
• somewhat cyclical - returns to an optimistic relationship with the enemy - emphasises how they could have been friends if not for war
• ABAB rhyme - highlights the forced division between the men despite their similarities

Question 4

(TMHK) ”I shot at him as him at me”

Answer 4

Matter-of-fact tone, internal rhyme and parallelism

The speaker has no hatred for his enemy and purely killed him out of duty

Also the rhyme highlights the difficult choice of ‘kill or be killed’

They find themselves in symmetrical circumstances, showing how they are similar

Question 5

(TMHK) ” ‘Had he and I but met’ ”

Answer 5

anastrophe creating an archaic tone

Emphasises the regret of the speaker in reflecting on what could have been a friendly encounter

This immediately shows his empathy for the enemy

Question 6

(TMHK) ”Yes; quaint and curious war is!”

Answer 6

Anastrophe, a caesural pause and an ironic tone

The speaker reflects on war as being strange

The tone he uses shows his disbelief at the nature of war - the fact it puts similarly disenfranchised men against each other despite their similarities

Question 7

(TMHK) ”because - because” and ”foe (…) foe”

Answer 7

Repetition, Caesura and assonance

Shows how the speaker struggles to come up with a good reason for killing the man

He feels guilty consequently

Question 8

(TMHK) ”like - just as I -” and “work - had sold his traps -“

Answer 8

Caesura slows pace

Demonstrates how the speaker is contemplating why his enemy joined

He recognises the similarities between them