Remains Flashcards
Who wrote Remains
Simon Armitage
What is Remains about
a group of soldiers shoot a man who is running away from a blank raid he has been involved in, his death os described in graphic detail, the soldier i telling the story is not sure whether the man was armed or not which plays on his mind, he cannot get the man’s death out of his head and is haunted by it
What is the form of Remains
there is not regular line length or rhyme scheme - someone telling a story, starts with first person plural (‘we’) but then changes to ‘I’ and becomes more personal sounding like a confession, final couplet have the same metre which gives a feeling of finality and hints that the guilt will stay with the soldier
What is the structure of Remains
begins as if it is going to be an amusing anecdote but it quickly turns into a graphic description of a man’s death, there is a clear volta ‘end of story except not really’ where the soldier’s tone, thoughts and emotions are changed by his guilt
What is the graphic imagery of Remains
man’s death is described in gory detail with the implication of his ‘guts’ have split onto the ground, the imagery reminds the reader of the horrors of war but also shows how desensitised to violence and death the speaker was at the time, ‘rips through his life’ - violent metaphor contrasts the shockingly with the colloquial structure of the first 2 stanzas, ‘blood-shadow’ - visual reminder of death and foreshadows the memories that will follow him, ‘his bloody life’ - the man’s life
What is the colloquial language of Remains
first 4 stanzas have a lots of chatty, familiar language which helps make the poem sound as if someone is telling a story, however this language also trivialises the man’s death, ‘sort of inside out’ - almost childish description as if the speaker cannot process it in a adult way, ‘tosses’ - as though the body is rubbish
What is the repetition of Remains
words are repeated to reflect the way that the killing is repeated in the speaker’s mind, ‘I see’ - visual horror, ‘probably armed possibly not’ - repetition shows that he is replaying the event in his head and hints his inner turmoil, ‘all’ ‘three’ - he wants the reader to know that it wasn’t just him as he feels guilty, ‘I’ - more personal not collective anymore as he feels completely responsible
What are the feelings and attitudes of Remains
nonchalance - initially there is a very casual attitude towards the death of the man and the tone is very story-like, guilt - the speaker cannot get the moeory of the killing out of his mind, he is tormented by the thoughts of the man and wondering whether he was armed or not, the poem ends with the speaker acknowledging that he has blood on his hands and he knows he is guilty
What are the themes of Remains
effects of conflict, reality of conflict, memory, negative emotions - guilt, individual experience
What language/techniques does Remains have
graphic imagery, colloquial language, repetition
