Remains

• End of story, except not really' This shows that the unknown victim's story has just ended as he has been killed; however the soldier's story has just started. It is the turning point of the poem. This could also be referring to his post traumatic stress disorder.
• we' first line
• on another occasion'


  Simon Armitage begins this dramatic monologue as if in the middle of a conversation. The effect is to draw the reader in. The narrator, a soldier, might be talking informally to friends. He describes his wartime experiences and initially speaks casually. But, as the poem will reveal, the incident is one of many that have affected him profoundly, and will continue to affect him in the future.
• get sent out'


  This suggests that the soldier is trying to rationalise his guilt for killing the "looter", as he is justifying it by assuring himself it was a command from a higher authority.

  It also suggests that initially he responded unthinkingly, but only later the guilt and regrets developed.

  Note that 'we get sent' is the historical present tense.
• tackle'


  he word 'tackle' implies football or rugby or a sport that the speaker played as a child, and perhaps he is hardly out of his teens. this relates to conflict because young boys were often made to go to war at a young age. The line is significant in that initially he seems to be relating an insignificant event; no more important than any other. Yet this is far more than a simple 'tackle' as it leads to the looter's death.

  The speaker here is using a euphemism; a mild description that softens the harshness of reality. So 'tackle' is preferable to 'attack and if necessary kill'.

  It is interesting that military language is full of euphemisms. For example, if a soldier is killed he is 'fallen'; soldiers are sent on 'tour' rather than to fight; if troops are accidently killed by their own side it is called 'friendly fire'; if civilians are killed it is 'collateral damage'.
• looters raiding a bank'


  The colloquial language suggests this event is a regular occurrence, something the soldiers comment on casually as a matter of course.
• legs it up the road'


  This is a colloquial expression; Armitage is imitating the everyday speech of the soldier, revealing gradually the personality of this young man. 'Legs it' means running off, something someone might do if they are late for the pub opening or dashing for a bus. So, it's inappropriate to the situation described by the soldier.

  Despite the apparent trivialisation of the death of the looter, we understand later how profoundly tortured the soldier is. But he choses to make light of the killing at this stage as a way to cope with guilt and recurring flashbacks. 'Legs it' sounds mild. He may lack the vocabulary to express his profound distress.
• probably' first stanza


  The speaker is unsure whether the looter was armed and prevaricates by saying 'probably' and 'possibly', which mean different things. The alliteration and rhythmic balance of the line, stating the worrying alternatives, hint the internal conflict within the soldier. It may ease his conscience to tell himself that the looter was armed and then his own life would have been at risk. In military terms this is a justification for killing, yet the event clearly disturbs the soldier
• possibly not' first stanza

  'Probably armed, possibly not' indicates the soldier does not know if the 'looter' was innocent.The soldier's guilt is roused by this uncertainty.

  The repetition of this line represents the endlessly returning guilty memories.

  The rhythmic sound and balanced construction of the phrase makes this memorable to the reader as well. The technique is known as syntactic parallelism.
• Well myself and somebody else and somebody else
• are all of the same mind'

  the soldiers work under orders as if they have been trained/ programmed to behave in this way and don't think as individuals.

  He finds comfort in emphasising that others agreed with the decision to shoot.

  The collective nature of the decision is an attempt to assuage his guilt. But it also imples that they were nervous about their own safety, jumpy and irrational, and therefore they opened fire.

  The regret and doubt displayed by the narrator demonstrates his own moral condemnation and inner turmoil. At the time they viewed the decision as justified, but later he questions this, though doesn't acknowledge the fact even to himself. As the poem reveals later, he is denying and suppressing his guilt and doubt.
• so all three of us open fire


  There is a sharp contrast between the conversational tone of the opening stanza and the sudden violent statement that the three soldiers opened fire, without being sure that the looter was armed. The effect of this juxtaposition is to shock the reader.
• three of a kind'

  This poker reference may suggest the games of childhood or of young men, a dramatic contrast to the serious nature of death and war.

  They have lost their individuality and the speaker seems to downplay their humanity. As soldiers they become just a 'kind'. Note the rhyme of 'mind' at the end of line 2 of the stanza and 'kind'. It has an ironic jogging, nursery-rhyme rhythm.

  The homophone 'kind' is a pun; they are a group of similar people, but anything but 'kind' in their actions.
• all letting fly'


  This is a figure of speech; a way of saying that they relaxed self-control and began indiscriminate shooting. 'Letting fly' can be applied to anger, uncontrolled speech, physical violence. But here they are soldiers 'letting fly' their gunfire.
• and I swear'


  he persona switches to the first person pronoun, and no longer refers to "all three of us". The poem from this point becomes very personal, showing the reader how deeply the speaker has been affected. We can assume that the soldier is suffering PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). He is being haunted by "his blood-shadow" and "the drink and the drugs won't flush him out ..." . The soldier is trying his hardest to remove this dead man from his memory but failing.
• I see' line 9

  The verb "see", in the present tense, suggests continuation; ongoing visions. The terrible images can't be expunged. This could be due to his post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which is referenced throughout the poem.
• "round as it rips through his life"


  This line shows Armitage's clever use of words. It consists of monosyllables, sharp consonants, with alliterative 'r's in 'rips' and 'round'; and a plosive 'p' to imitate a single shot.

  The image, 'rips through his life', is complex and ambiguous. The looter's life is lost, his body violently assaulted. Ironically, the soldier's action also 'rips through' his own life. He too is deeply damaged by what he did; his peace of mind murdered.

  The verb 'rips' is particularly expressive. It shows the fragility of the life of the looter and how easy it was to kill him. Consequently, memory 'rips' through the soldiers mind leaving him tortured with guilt.
• i see' line 10

  The repetition of 'I see' shows how he is haunted by the death of the looter; his mind returning again and again to the scene.

  To achieve the maximum impact, Armitage uses a device called anaphora, repeating 'I see' at the beginning of two lines to create rhetorical emphasis and reinforce the speaker's distress.
• "broad daylight on the other side "


  This could possibly refer to daylight showing through the holes the bullets made in the looter's body, emphasising the violence. This is unlikely to be literal; the man's body would be too mangled and bathed in blood.

  Alternatively it suggests that the looter's life is ended and the "light" in his life is unreachable to anyone other than the soldier who fired the shot.

  More likely is the insight that the soldier gained into what he had done, the moment after the shot. The 'broad daylight' is therefore a metaphor for self-knowledge and awareness of the implications of war.

  A constructive suggestion is that it may refer to the saying, "to see the light on the other side". People who have reported near-death experiences have said that they have heightened awareness of God or salvation or visualise heaven or re-live important events in their life. The murdered looter may have had these experiences, but it may also refer to the soldier's heightened awareness of what he has done and how the rest of his life will change.
• so' line 11


  "So" relates back to the colloquial style of the poem.
• we've' line 11


  'We`ve'. The soldier sees the shooting of the looter as a collective responsibility. This doesn't ease his distress, however.
• looter a dozen times'


  The soldier continues to use the colloquial language that is part of his culture, not least the exaggerated 'dozen'. One view is that this could be a familiar occurance, and that the man they killed is insignificant to the soldiers. However, this is disproved later in the poem when we learn of the soldier's guilt, distress and developing mental illness. The more probable interpretation is that the soldier is unable to find words to describe his distress and reverts to familiar modes of speech. This is problematic; the soldier clearly needs to talk about the guilt and visions 'here in my head when I close my eyes'.
• he's there on the ground'


  This suggests that there is a lack of respect for the man who is left on the ground. Or maybe the soldier's style of expression doesn't enable him to convey grief or guilt. His PTSD is exacerbated by his inarticulacy.
• sort of'


  The continued use of colloquial language is consistent with the soldier's manner of speech throughout. The horror of the victim's 'inside out' body is beyond his expression
• inside out'


  The continued use of colloquial language is consistent with the soldier's manner of speech throughout. The horror of the victim's 'inside out' body is beyond his expression.
• pain itself, the image of agony'


  This line suggests that the horror has suddenly released in the soldier the ability to describe what has happened; his inner self has language that the ordinary soldier lacks. The conciseness and choice of words has the elegance of an educated person, a distinct style that has huge impact.
• and tosses his guts back into his body
• carted off'


  This dehumanises the wounded looter. To say 'he's carted off' is the way the inarticulate soldier expresses himself. But it also may be a way for him to deal with his guilt. Perhaps he can't bring himself to reveal his distress.
• in the back of a lorry'

  This is either a casual and dishonourable way of disposing of a dead body, so a comparison is drawn between the soldier's disrespectful action and the job of bin men. If a bin bag is broken, the contents might be stuffed back inside before loading it into 'the back of a lorry'. Perhaps this could imply that, in the moment, the soldiers could have viewed the looter in a dehumanising manner - as if he were 'rubbish' - but only after did they realise the true importance of his life and what they'd done.

  Or it could be the inarticulate language of a young man too distressed and horrified to find appropriate words.

  Note that modern military culture seeks to establish high standards of conduct. These young men may have fallen short of their training, re-doubling their guilt
• End of story, except not really'


  This shows that the unknown victim's story has just ended as he has been killed; however the soldier's story has just started. It is the turning point of the poem. This could also be referring to his post traumatic stress disorder.
• His blood shadow stays on the street

  This indicates that the killing will haunt the soldier's future life day after day. The 'shadow' is not only the physical place on the ground where the man was shot, but also the imprinted memory of him that will stay in the soldier's mind forever. He is not proud of shooting a possibly innocent civilian.
• out on patrol'


  The story reverts to the routine of soldiering, though the reader knows that all will not be well for the soldier in the future.
• i' 5th stanza


  The repetition of "I" suggests that the soldier is now considering his own actions more deeply
• I walk right over it week after week. then im home on leave


  The soldier reverts to his conversational English. It is understandable that the shadow of the killed civilian will haunt the soldier, but Armitage links this with his future in England and 'home on leave.
• But I blink


  The ending of the stanza emphasises the blink, and its significance, how little time it takes for the memory to revive. The use of enjambment carries the poem forward to the future and the ongoing flashbacks.
• and he bursts again through the doors of the bank


  The past is relived again and again. Armitage uses the present tense throughout this stanza and the next to show that it still affects him now. The poet presents memory as haunting and violent.
• Possibly armed, probably not ---second time

  This reprises the phrase in stanza one, to show how he keeps reliving the past events.
• torn apart
• by a dozen rounds

  Dozen means twelve, but tends to be used in an imprecise way to mean 'a lot' and 'more than ten'. It indicates that the soldier has lost count of the times he shot the victim. The number and intensity is exaggerated in his mind.
• and the drinks and the drugs wont flush him out


  He can't rid himself of this horrific image that is stuck with him.