the manhunt Flashcards
what themes can the manhunt be seen as?
war, power, love, time and man
“frozen river which ran through his face”
Metaphor – links to tears and his physical appearance after the bullet scarred his face.
“handle and hold”
Alliteration – links to care that his wife Laura has to take with him as he is fragile.
“fractured rudder of his shoulder blade”
Metaphor – the damage to his shoulder which no longer works properly and the emotional damage of him being out of control or unable to steer his own emotions (rudder is used to steer a boat)
“his grazed heart”
Noun Phrase – implies his heart is damaged, physically from the bullet sliding past it but emotionally from the fear he felt at nearly dying.
“foetus of metal beneath his chest”
Metaphor – the bullet is stuck inside him and may also link to his emotional state where he feels like a new person as a result of the injuries he has
“sweating, unexploded mine/buried deep in his mind,”
Metaphor - pain he feels emotionally linked to the gunshot wound and the difficult progress of exploring these emotions.
what is the manhunt about?
The wife of a soldier gets to know her husband again after he returns home injured from the war. Her husband is physically scarred by the injuries he sustained in the war, but he also has deeply buried psychological scars as result of his traumatic experiences. The poem traces his
physical scars and explores deeper into the “unexploded mine” of PTSD. Physically, they can remain close, but there is a gap between them now emotionally as he struggles to let her in.
