The Manhunt

Question 1

Title

Answer 1

‘The Manhunt’ – refers to the wife’s hunt for the man she once knew – it’s a journey for the wife.

Question 2

2nd stanza

Answer 2

The image ‘frozen river’ is symbolic of the scars and wounds in Eddie’s face and since rivers meander, it suggests a journey with the scar in his face being an entry wound. It starts the constant journey of re-discovery as he battles with his PTSD throughout the poem.

Question 3

3rd stanza

Answer 3

‘Blown hinge’ - suggests fragility, damage, and loss of wholeness - emphasizes how broken Eddie’s experiences of war have left him.
However, by only having this image appear in the third stanza rather than in the first, it could suggest that Laura did not see, or she couldn’t initially comprehend the extent of Eddie’s wounds.

Question 4

5th stanza

Answer 4

The phrase ‘Fractured rudder of a shoulder blade’ highlights the fragility of human body.
The phrase ‘Fractured rudder’ indicates a loss in direction for his life.

The metaphor suggests that his body is broken down into a series of separate’s broken objects suggested that the war dehumanises people.

Question 5

7th stanza

Answer 5

‘Only then could I bind the struts’ - figurative language suggests she’s patching him up - it’s as if she’s tying his broken ribs back together to make him strong again.
The word ‘bind’ stresses how carefully and election delicately she cares for him – reveals the wife’s unconditional love for him.

Question 6

8th stanza

Answer 6

grazed heart’ – The adjective ‘grazed’ has a double meaning - the bullet only grazed past his heart but left him emotionally grazed.

Question 7

12th stanza

Answer 7

‘sweating unexploded mine buried deep in his mind’

In The Manhunt, Armitage uses the visceral verb ‘sweating’ - happens when people feel anxious and stressed - symptoms of PTSD.

a personified metaphor has been used to compare Eddie’s PTSD to an ‘unexploded mine’, which are hidden, dangerous and unpredictable.

The PTSD is ‘buried deep in his mind’ as most mental illnesses are not immediately visible resulting in him being placed in a passive role.

Question 8

stanzas

Answer 8

title
2 - frozen river
3 - blown hinge
5 - Fractured rudder of a shoulder blade
7 - Only then could I bind the struts
8 - grazed heart
12 - ‘sweating unexploded mine buried deep in his mind’