The Manhunt

Question 1

“trace frozen river that ran through his face”

Answer 1

“frozen river” - perhaps a physical scar left from the war.
Perhaps represents how his scarring and pain is “frozen”, never leaving nor moving, like the water in a “frozen river.”
Perhaps his tears are frozen, unable to run and express his feelings, like one of the symptoms of PTSD - emotional numbing.
“trace” - semantic field of a search - the speaker is searching for the man their partner was before the war.

Question 2

“damaged, porcelain collar bone,”

Answer 2

“porcelain” - A delicate material, juxtaposed by the brutality of war. War breaks people, and makes whats is left of them into fragile “porcelain” both physically and mentally. “Damaged” also exacerbates this fact.

Question 3

“fractured rudder of shoulder-blade”

Answer 3

Rudder - The part of the ship that determines the direction it drives - the soldier has lost his sense of direction since the war, and likely needs support to navigate what is left of his life.

Question 4

“parachute silk of his punctured lung.”

Answer 4

“silk” - more refrences to delicate materials. “Parachute” - a “punctured” parachute is useless, likely what the soldier feels like now.

Question 5

“foetus of metal beneath his chest”

Answer 5

The bullets and wounds have become part of him, impeding his recovery. Ironic - a foetus is the beginning of a new life, war has ended many lives.

Question 6

“Only then did i come close.”

Answer 6

The soldier seems to be recovering, but my never recover fully - “come close”