The Manhunt

Question 1

What themes are explored in the Manhunt?

Answer 1

War and its lasting effects
Relationships and love
Mental and physical suffering

Question 2

War and its lasting effects quotes?

Answer 2

‘the frozen river which ran through his face’
‘the blown hinge of his lower jaw’
‘fractured rudder of shoulder- blade’
‘parachute silk of his punctured lung.’

Question 3

Context

Answer 3

British poet
Started life as a geographer then became social worker in Prison Service
aka Laura’s poem - Laura and Eddie Beddoes (who was discharged due to physical and psychological injuries from war)

Question 4

Form

Answer 4

The poem is made up of a series of couplets, mostly unrhymed. This creates a sense of fragmentation, which matches the feelings of the soldier’s wife as she seeks to understand the man her husband has become. Will they ever ‘rhyme’ as a couple again?

Question 5

Structure

Answer 5

The poem describes the phases of a wife’s search for answers from her injured husband who has recently returned from a war zone. The poem ends when the search is brought to a close.

Question 6

first

Answer 6

After the first phase

Question 7

trace

Answer 7

Only then would he let me trace

Question 8

mind

Answer 8

And mind and attend

Question 9

sweating

Answer 9

sweating, unexploded mine / Buried deep in his mind