Remains

Question 1

‘His bloody life in my bloody hands’

Answer 1

• Literal blood, gory imagery, shows amount of destruction
• Swearing, torment of PTSD
• Guilt, metaphorical, allusion to Macbeth
• Responsibility as it links to common phrase ‘my life is in your hands’ forces the reader to show the serious effects of PTSD as it contrasts a casual phrase to the harsh reality of a soldier
• In the final stanza with just two lines, this could show the disintegration of the soldiers mental health and a possible breakdown at the end as it had been regular throughout and the poem has built up to the end
• Links to the dual meaning of the title, remains of body and trauma

Question 2

Structure

Answer 2

• Enjambment, conversational nature of poem, keen to get it off his chest, talking to a therapist, shows how overwhelmed his mind is, story like nature makes it more personal
• Clearly an account from the past, yet it is written in 1st person which could show lasting effects of the incident, memories still with him
• Colloquial language, helps the reader to view soldiers as real people, also suggests youthfulness which creates sympathy, casual speech later shows how they are desensitised to the events

Question 3

‘On another occasion, we got sent out’

Answer 3

• Media res, mirrors confusion of soldier as they’re not emotionally prepared
• May be Armitage making a societal comment, soldiers are launched into situations they don’t understand
• It isn’t an exceptional case, it’s the day to day reality for soldiers
• ‘Sent out’ - often refers to punishment, compares war to this, compares them to children
• This alongside the slang language suggests the soldier is young/inexperienced

Question 4

‘One of my mates goes by/
and tosses his guts back into his body’

Answer 4

• Colloquial language
• ‘Goes by’ - he doesn’t want to pause on this memory, tries to brush past it
• Sibilance, reinforces the sinister mood which the narrator tries to pass off as normal
• Sounds like a metaphor, ‘toss your guts’ means to be sick, reflects how the narrator feels about it now?, PTSD
• ‘Tosses’ - lack of respect, shows how conflict causes the devaluation of human life
• Rhyme adds fluidity, they’re used to it, desensitised