The Manhunt Flashcards
Context
Told from the perspective of a soldiers wife. Deals with ideas of PTSD and its impact on the soldier and those around them.
Structure
Organised into couplets. Initially these couplets rhyme (“first phase… intimate days”), perhaps reflecting the couple’s harmony when they were first reunited. However, as the poem progresses the rhyme scheme falters, reflecting the increasingly disjointed nature of their relationship.
Themes
War
Impacts of war
Relationships and Love
Suffering
“after passionate nights and intimate days”
Poem is written from the perspective of his
wife who is trying to understand the mental
and physical effects of war. The loving, sensual language throughout may reflect the intimacy of husband and wife, and keen
devotion from the wife hoping to heal him.
“only then while he let me trace”
The verbs reflect the activities of the
wife as she conducts her “search”,
suggesting careful treatment of her
husband’s injured body and mind. It
may also imply that he is no longer
familiar to her.
“the frozen river which ran through his face”
The poem potentially follows the metaphor of this river, and starts of rather pessimistic, with the speaker focussing on her husbands injuries, and how hard it has been on their relationship. However, it may symbolise a hope for their relationship after this “frozen river” thaws out.
“explore”
links back to the idea of a search for her husband.
“blown hinge of his lower jaw”
The use of the metaphor suggests that the jaw is physically and metaphorically broken. This may suggest that he is no longer open with her, perhaps unable to talk of his feelings and experiences.
“handle and hold”
the gemination of the ‘h’ sounds “handle” and “hold” may be used as a vehicle to convey the fragility of her husband after his experiences in war, with the pair of ‘h’ sounds suggesting they both need to be strong together to overcome this.
“damaged, porcelain collar bone”
The use of the metaphor ‘porcelain collar–bone’ implies that he is fragile and delicate and that he needs to be handled with care. ‘Porcelain’ is often hard, but can also chip easily and is cold to the touch. Perhaps it is a reminder of the ‘frozen river which ran through his face.’
“mind and attend”
the words ‘mind’ and ‘attend’ are related to medical attention, suggesting the wife is attempting to heal her husband
“fractured rudder of a shoulder blade”
The ‘fractured rudder’ suggests that
he can’t ‘steer’ himself and that she has to
guide him. It reinforces the idea that the man is now in a way dependent on his wife.
“parachute silk of his punctured lung”
‘Parachutes’ are used within the
military, however a broken parachute
is useless. potentially a reflection
of how the man feels about himself.
“climb the rungs of his broken ribs”
Creates an image of a ladder and a closely observed detail of her hands exploring the altered body of her husband. The idea of the ladder is reflective of the effort involved in the wife’s gradual search for answers and her gradual coming to terms with her husband’s state of mind.
“foetus of metal beneath his chest”
The image of the metal bullet still inside him as a “foetus” suggests that, like having a baby, the couple’s relationship will be forever changed by what he has gone through. It may also suggest that the ‘foetus’ feeds off him and takes his energy – perhaps reinforcing the idea that his injuries are life changing.
“back to its source”
further repetition of the search being like a “river”
“sweating, unexploded mine buried deep in his mind”
The metaphor of “a sweating, unexploded mine buried deep in his mind” implies that the source of the problem is not physical but mental, and threatens to cause problems at any time. Perhaps the wife is trying to diffuse him The importance of the wife’s care and delicacy is highlighted by her discovery of this problem, she has to tread carefully as to not trigger PTSD.
“then and only then, did I come close”
The final line of the poem emphasises the impact that war has on relationships. This is made clear in the line “Then, and only then, did I come close”. Her search is not fully successful, she only comes “close”, and only after she realises that her husband’s problems lie as much in memories of his experiences as they do in his physical scars.
