Remains

• Big idea

  • to teach the consequences of war
  • a soldier lack of power over his own memories
  • permanent trauma
• Context

  • based on experience of real life soldier
  • Iraq/Afghanistan war
  • PTSD
• Structure 


  shifting blame

  "All three of us", "Three of a kind"

  > ignoring this guilt

  > colloquial language (casual)

  
  

  Enjambment

  > causes tension and build up of violent imagery

  > occurs at specific moments and specifically breaks up sentences about death and suffering

  
  

  Stanza length

  > breaks down from 4 to 2

  > reflects soldier's break down
• "Probably armed, Possibly not"


  Probably/Possibly - adverb

  > Interpretation of ambiguity- inherent uncertainty and morality

  > slight chance looter was innocent

  > "Probably" comes first as it provides justification

  > Focused on the killing being unjustified

  + Anaphora - continuous guilt
• "On another occasion we got sent out"

  Media res (in the moment)

  We - collective/plural noun

  > Mirrors confusion of soldiers and unpredictable and chaotic nature of war

  > One of many occasions, not an exceptional case

  > Reality
• "Sort of inside out, pain itself, the image of agony"


  Rich imagery

  Gruesome imagery

  "inside out" - reflects feeling of disorientated

  "image of agony" endurance of trauma and hating memories of violent act

  >Shows transition from being colloquial to emotional

  > Colloquial language comes from trying to pretend he has not been impacted
• "His bloody life in my bloody hands"

  "Bloody hands" - Metaphor , symbolises guilt, responsibility and emotional burden

  Repetition of bloody- intensity of these feelings

  Emotive language - enforces guilt, harsh reality
• "He's here in my head when I close my eyes"


  "When I close my eyes"- Sense of intrusion and invasion, the memory dominates the speakers thoughts