English Literature: Poems - Remains

“torn apart by a dozen rounds”

• violent imagery

• contrast to the tranquility of “sleep” and “dream”

“i swear i see every round as it rips through his life”

• violent language

• ‘rip’ highlights the brutal nature of the attack

• sensory language

• ‘i see’ suggests that this trauma has been branded into his memory

“remains” - the title

suggests that after taking part in war/conflict the soldiers are just remains of their former selves, they have no life left in them as they have seen lives been taken away

“his bloody life in my bloody hands”

• links to lady macbeth, is shows how he feels that the things he has done will forever be on him, and it foreshadows his fate, just like lady macbeth soldiers commit suicide to get rid of the painful memories

“probably armed possibly not”

• uncertain language

• ‘probably armed’ suggests the speaker is trying to cover up is guilt y suggesting they don’t know what could have happened to them

“and the drink and drugs won’t flush him out”

• indicates the speakers desperation to rid himself o the harrowing memories of taking someones life

• ‘flushed’ suggests that the speaker feels he needs to be cleansed for the actions he has committed

“his bloody stained shadow stays on the street”

• metaphor

• indicates that there is something dark within the soldiers after they have been in war that can not be dispelled

• showing him a constant reminder of what he did

“sort of inside out.. tosses his guts back into his body”

• gruesome imagery

• this shows the reality of war, and highlights that propaganda is wrong as there is no glory or honour associated with what is expected of soldiers

“well myself and somebody else and somebody else”

• colloquial language

• shows the experience described by the speaker was common amongst the soldiers because the military have no concept of helping those struggling with things like PTSD

• the soldiers are almost desensitised the the horrors of conflict

how does exposure link to remains

• “on us the doors are closed” - suggests that ‘the door’ to get help and rid themselves of conflict is ‘closed’ because the officers in the army see them as dehumanised people who only have one job, to go and fight people, regardless of the sonsequences

• “we keep awake” - a contrast to remains “sleep” and “dream”, yet it suggests that if they go to sleep their memories will haunt them

• “attacks once more” - referring to dawn and suggests they are getting attacked by having to live through another day of the effects of war

how does war photographer link to remains

• “running children in nightmare heat” - suggests that those who are innocent and pure before war are then ruined by the things they have to see and cope with on a daily basis

• “bloody stained into foreign dust” - suggests that even those who dont take part in the violence but are still subjected to it have the painful memories haunt them every time they close their eyes

• “with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers” - criticising that as a society we dont express enough care to those involved as we feel false emotions and have no real idea about the struggles of those in conflict