Remains

• What themes are present in Remains?

  1. Effects of Conflict
  2. Reality of Conflict
  3. Memory
  4. Guilt
  5. Individual Experiences
• What is Remains about?

  Remains is about a soldier’s traumatic experience during war and the lasting psychological impact it has on him. The poem focuses on how a violent incident—shooting a looter—haunts the soldier’s memory, causing guilt and emotional distress long after the event. It explores themes of trauma, memory, and the effects of conflict on individuals.
• State the language, structure and form of Remains.

  1. Language: graphic Imagery, repitition, metaphor, semantic field of violence and death
  2. Structure: eight stanzas made up with four lines except the last two lines which reflect fragmentation. enjambment, volta
  3. Form: irregular line lengths, irregular rhyme scheme reflects forms a colloquial tone, first person plural, first pirson singular. sounds like a confession
• State quotes from Remains.

  1. "Probably armed, possibly not"
  2. "I see every round as it rips through his life"
  3. "tosses his guts back into his body"
  4. "His bloody shadow stays on the street"
  5. "Dream, Sleep, Blink"
  6. "His bloody life in my bloody hands"
• State the context and writers intentions.

  Remains is based on real testimonies from British soldiers in Iraq, featured in 'The Not Dead' by Armitage. He exposes how war causes lasting psychological trauma, using the soldier’s internal conflict to show the emotional and moral cost of killing. Armitage critiques how modern warfare dehumanises and isolates soldiers, even after they return home. The speaker feels guilt, trauma, and detachment, haunted by vivid memories and a loss of identity. Through this, Armitage presents a raw, disillusioned view of war and its unseen, permanent consequences.