The Manhunt

Question 1

Who wrote the manhunt?

Answer 1

Simon Armitage

Question 2

What was the manhunt about?

Answer 2

• Written in the perspective of the wife (Laura) of a soldier (Eddy): who is attempting to come to terms with what has happened
• Soldier was returning home from the bosnian war, from which he sustained multiple injuries from
• About his PTSD and its impact on others

Question 3

What are the themes that have been explored in the poem?

Answer 3

• Impact of war
• Love
• Time loss
• Relationships

Question 4

Describe the form and the structure of the poem

Answer 4

• Series of couplets, mostly unrhymed
• The initial rhyming of the couplets; later discontinued
• Each couplet introduces a different injury and the reader explores the body and the mind of the soldier alongside his wife

Question 5

What is the effect of the rhyming, which is later discontinued?

Answer 5

• could be reflective of the harmony of the couple when they were initially reunited but grew apart as time went on due to the soldier’s PTSD
• Creating a sense of fragmentation which reflect Eddie’s state of mind
• It also represents Eddie and Laura as a couple
• Could also argue it to be the wife’s feelings as she tries to reconnect with her husband

Question 6

What is the effect of the enjambment?

Answer 6

The use of enjambment mimics the way she traces the injuries that run continuously across his body and explores the damage done: demonstrative of the slow progress she is making

Question 7

What effect does the title ‘The Manhunt’ have on the reader’s impression of the poem?

Answer 7

• Literal meaning: to search for an escaped person
• Implies that Laura has lost someone and it establishes that she will be finding/ reclaiming them
• ‘The’ definitive article highlights how she is searching for one specific person
  → it is the most important

Question 8

How is the theme of relationships and love explored in the poem?

Answer 8

• The use of rhyme could be indicative of the love between Eddie and Laura
• It is shown as top priority, as Laura tries her best to comprehend what Eddie has been through
• Laura is attempting to repair Eddie’s wounds from the war ‘bind the struts’ showcasing that a relationships have lots of sacrifice for each other and have a lot to do within them

Question 9

How is the theme of war explored in The Manhunt?

Answer 9

• War is so deep rooted and has so much effect that it encroaches upon other people’s personal lives, including disrupting the love that they have for those around them
• It shows the lasting effect of going through war, shown through the violent imagery (‘blown hinge’) implying the disruptive nature of it
• The comparison of Eddie with broken things suggests that war has left him broken: both mentally and physically

Question 10

How is the theme of mental distress explored in The Manhunt?

Answer 10

• The enjambment throughout the poem illustrates the slow and demanding healing process that he has to go through both mentally and physically due to war
• Caesura is used to point out the barriers that the healing process contain

Question 11

Why did Simon Armitage write this poem?

Answer 11

Wrote this poem for a documentary called ‘Forgotten Heroes, but not dead’

Question 12

Complete the quote: ‘the frozen river…

Answer 12

…which ran through his face’

Question 13

Complete the quote ‘the blown…

Answer 13

…hinge’

Question 14

Complete the quote ‘fractured rudder of…

Answer 14

…shoulder blade’

Question 15

Complete the quote ‘feel the hurt…

Answer 15

…of his grazed heart’

Question 16

Complete the quote ‘the foetus of…

Answer 16

…metal underneath his chest’

Question 17

Complete the quote ‘sweating,…

Answer 17

…unexploded mine’

Question 18

Complete the quote ‘then, and…

Answer 18

…only then did i come close’

Question 19

Analyse the quote ‘only then’

Answer 19

→ repeated
→ shows a slow and painstaking recovery after the war
→ suggests emotional barriers

Question 20

Analyse the quote ‘The frozen river which ran through his face’

Answer 20

→ metaphor: refers to both the physical scars and wounds he has suffered through the war as well as emphasising his emotional state
→ ‘frozen’ implies that the memories are revisited, but it will eventually melt away
→ Eddie has become cold and hardened by the war; reflected by the inability of the river moving symbolising that he is unable to move on from such a traumatic experience

Question 21

Analyse the quote ‘The blown hinge’

Answer 21

→ ‘blown hinge’ dehumanising in a way, describing his jaw as not a part of the human face
→ ‘blown’ emphasises the effect of the explosion
→ image of physical brokenness suggests that he is being forced to discuss and open up about his trauma, which he is unable to do so
→ he is struggling + reluctant to relive that experience

Question 22

Analyse the quote ‘Fractured rudder of shoulder blade’

Answer 22

→ plosive sounds reminded of the war
→ rudders are used to control boats, showing that Eddie has lost direction of his life
→ gives reader an insight to the struggle of adapting when returning from war
→ ‘rudder’ also implies that he needs her to steer him away from the bad memories of war
→ ‘fractured’ is more intense than ‘damaged’ (from previous line) showing that he is more comfortable talking abt his experiences now

Question 23

Analyse the quote ‘Feel the hurt of his grazed heart’

Answer 23

→ she has now moved on from trying to physically heal him and has moved onto mentally healing him
→ ‘and feel the hurt’: reveals how horrifying and traumatising the war was, and that the best she can do is attempt to sympathise with him
→ ‘grazed’ like their love due to current circumstances
→ also the emotional and physical scars that war has left behind
→ half rhyme of ‘heart’ and ‘hurt’ is a sign that she is almost there + their love is almost back, for rhyme indicates love
→ injuries getting less violent, but parts of the body getting more human, showing us that it will get better: offers hope

Question 24

Analyse the quote ‘The foetus of metal beneath his chest’

Answer 24

→ ‘foetus’ war has life changing effects, like a baby would + is irreversible
→ could also imply that war has heavily infantilised him, making him rely on his wife, just as a baby has to rely on their mother
→ symbolic of new life: he is changing direction from war
→ his experiences are now a part of him

Question 25

Analyse the quote ‘Sweating, unexploded mine’

Answer 25

→ imagery shows the tension and stress that the memories have caused
→ ‘unexploded’: he may not have dealt with all his trauma
→ PTSD compared to an unexploded mine, as they both can be triggered at any time
→ ‘unexploded mine’ could also be his anger
→ ‘sweating’: Eddie is clearly anxious when it comes to his PTSD

Question 26

Analyse the quote ‘Then, and only then, did I come close.’

Answer 26

→ shows wife’s realisation that her husband’s mental scars have a bigger impact than his physical ones
→ ‘close’: she has never experienced what he has and therefore, she can only come ‘close’
→ endstop signifies the end of her search
→ their love may never go back to how it was before
→ repetition of ‘then’ and ‘only then’ helps reader navigate through the sequence of events and understand how lengthy the process was