The Man He Killed

Question 1

The Man He Killed

Answer 1

Passive voice = Detaching the persona from guilt, emotionless, ambiguity, ease of dealing with the murder when the identity is unknown, distanced, removed

• Generalization - same, equal, lack of identity in war, could have been anyone - as though never existed, sympathy for both survivors and fallen
• Killed - cold, lack of euphemism creates harsh contrast of blame

Question 2

We should have sat down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

Answer 2

Modal verb highlights the regret felt by the persona, celebratory of life, wistful, contemplative, reflective
Anecdotal opening criticises the cruelty and irrationality of war

Colloquial informal noun references possibility of friendship - juxtaposes life and death in the next stanza, questioning the unforgiving, unnecessary, brutality of war

Question 3

I shot at him as he at me
And killed him in his place.

Answer 3

4 syllables per person creates sense of equilibrium -two sides of the same coin - they are the same, justifiable, could have easily been him

Fundamentally equal in actions as people, highlighting how they have no choice - life or death situation (kill or be killed) making it “transactional”

• Active Voice - emotionless, instant, culpability contrasts very direct, blunt tone, creating atmosphere of desensitisation and normality of violence, obligatory tone, unphased by death

End stopped line - Finality, resignation of the action

Question 4

Was out of work - had sold his traps
No other reason why.

Answer 4

Parasocial relationship formed by the trauma and regret of having killed

• Sold all his belongings creates desperate persona of the person = war preys on the vulnerable, working class = no better option. Blames society for preying on the weak
• Faked this person in their head to cope with the blunt fact of having killed - persona doesn’t know whether the person is a cold-blooded killer or not.

Question 5

-

Answer 5

Hesitations
Stuttering
PTSD
Boer War

Question 6

Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down

Answer 6

Quaint = Pleasing
War = Psychologically taxing

Juxtaposition between the two concepts criticises the futility and meaningless nature of war.

Fellow = Friend, acquaintance, creates guilt for the speaker.

Direct address forces the audience to consider the impact of war, and shifts the guilt off the persona.

Question 7

Or to help to half-a-crown

Answer 7

6 syllable line creates deflation
Reflects train of melancholy thoughts of persona

Question 8

ABAB rhyme scheme

Answer 8

Nursery-rhyme like
Eerie contrast between subject and rhythm
Parallels how politicians and govt portray war as a patriotic concept VS. actual war

Question 9

Stanza length

Answer 9

Quatrains - simplicity of the structure reflects the oppression and rigidity that the speaker faces against the rigid protocol and inhumane nature of war.

Question 10

Cyclical structure of poem

Answer 10

Reflects how society is stuck in an exploitative cycle of futilely pitting people against each other for their own good, the speaker simply being a product of the flawed and doomed system.