Remains

• 'On another occasion'


  • In media res: confuses the reader as they initially don’t know what’s going on. This mirrors the soldier's confusion; they are not emotionally prepared for what will happen.
  • Societal comment- soldiers are launched into situations they don’t understand; there is a lack of compassion in the military for soldiers that risk their lives.
  • In media res also reflects the chaos and unpredictability of war.
  • 'another occasion': this is a typical operation for a soldier, and is the reality soldiers have to deal with daily. Soldiers are expected to suffer without any help.
• 'But I blink and he bursts...'


  • Connotations of waking up. Impossible to distinguish between what is being awake and what is a dream/flashback. Having to blink to try and make out the difference.
  • Caesura provides finality. Going home should be the end of the impact the killing has on him. However the conjunctive “but” at the start of the second sentence shows how war continues to impact him even when he should be able to escape it.
• 'tosses his guts back into his body...in the back of a lorry'


  • "tosses" connotes a lack of care or respect for the body, treating it like an object. Conflict causes the devaluation of human life – loss of sanctity.
  • It also suggests it is an action they are used to- a natural reaction. Rhyme between “body” and “lorry” adds fluidity – suggesting this is routine and they are used to it.
  • The colloquial language used suggests that the soldiers have become deadened and desensitised to the harsh realities of war- it's normal to them.
• 'His bloody life in my bloody hands'


  • The later use of 'bloody' suggests that this event has ruined his life, and suggests he regrets killing him.
  • The speaker feels entirely responsible for the death, suggested through the reference to “hands”:
  • In literature, hands often serve as symbols of guilt. Shifted from sharing blame with others at the beginning of the poem to taking sole responsibility for the death of the other soldier, showing how PTSD can shift perspective, and how memory can be corrupted.
• 'Well myself and somebody else and somebody else'

  • Repetition of “somebody else” could be a way of aleviating the soldier’s feelings of guilt; they were following orders and acting as a team. It suggests they are all in the same situation, suffering similar guilt.
  • Repetition of at the end of the poem ‘I’ shows the speakers guilt; he is taking responsibility for the man’s death. The regret displayed by the narrator demonstrates his own inner turmoil, suppressing his guilt.