Manhunt

• • "After passionate nights and intimate days"
  • Eddie and Laura after being separated for so long had to spend time rekindling their relationship
  • Soldiers were parted from their families for long periods of time
• • "The frozen river which ran through his face"
  • Metaphor of the severe scarring and damage inflicted upon him during war
  • War is incredibly brutal and unforgiving to its soldiers leaving them mutilated and sometimes unrecognizable
• • "The blown hinge of his lower jaw"
  • As the soldiers wife Laura reaches the jaw of her husband in her methodical exploration of his physical injuries there is damage and injury
  • Alludes to how the soldiers deep trauma is too painful to share with his wife despite her being the closest person to him - War leaves soldiers with PTSD and painful memories
• • "feel the hurt of his grazed heart"
  • Wife begins to explore his emotional pain as well as his physical pain
  • War is so brutal and cruel it damages the heart
  • However there is an opportunity for the soldier to heal
• • "the foetus of metal beneath his chest where the bullet had finally come to rest"
  • incongruous metaphor - innocence and vulnerability of babies contrasts the cruelty and violence that war brings to soldiers lives
  • highlights the potential for the damage to grow just as a foetus grows
• • "a sweating unexploded mine buried deep in his mind"
  • The soldiers emotional pain is more deadly and dangerous left unresolved - must be treat with care and sensitivity by the wife
  • This emotional trauma is "buried deep" making it difficult to overcome and reach
• • "Then and only then did I come close"
  • Laura will not give up on her husband and is dedicated to healing him from his emotional and physical injuries - highlights strong bond between the soldier and his wife
  • The devastating impact that war has had on the soldier is so great that it has taken an immense amount of care to come close to fixing