AQA English Literature: Power and Conflict Poetry- Remains by Simon
Armitage
Content, Meaning and Purpose:
● This was written to match with a TV documentary about soldiers returning from
war struggling with PTSD.Specifically, a soldier who had fought In the Iraq war in
2003, Guardsman Tromans.
● Poem talks about his experiences about shooting a looter dead in Iraq and how
this has affected him in his life.In a way to show the reader that the mental health
that he is suffering from can be prolonged over a long period of time even after
the physical conflict is over.
Context:
● This point was used to increase the awareness of PTSD with the military and to
gain sympathy amongst the public, many of whom were opposed to the war, and
we can gather this from the quote. ‘These are poems of survivors, the damaged,
exhausted men who returned from war embody but never fully in mind’
Language:
● ‘His blood shadow staining the street’ - Killing will haunt the soldier's future life
day after day. ‘Shadow’ is an imprinted memory of him that will stay in his mind
and that he is not proud of shooting of possibly innocent civilian,vivid description
as blood a stain is hard to get rid of. Writer’s Intention: So by using blood its
there to represent the guilt that the soldiers suffer from in the war and so when
they try to forget it haunts them even more and also the sibilance that’s used is
focused on the ‘stay’,’street’ could be anywhere. (Theme of guilt) (Life after
conflict)
● ‘Probably armed Possibly not’ - The reprises the phrase in stanza 1, to show how
he keeps reliving the past events - suggesting turmoil over his actions with
constant guilt and also mentioning that the killing was wrong, making his killing
unlawful. (Theme of guilt) (Life after conflict)
● ‘Sand- Smothered land or six feet-under in desert land’ - goes to the memory, so
the memory ‘Remains’ and adds to the sibilance with harsh experiences with ‘s’
also creating a sinister affect or he could be saying it when he’s angry, Stanza a
coherence that makes one feel that the story is leading to a sad conclusion so no
resolution. (Theme of anger)
Armitage
Content, Meaning and Purpose:
● This was written to match with a TV documentary about soldiers returning from
war struggling with PTSD.Specifically, a soldier who had fought In the Iraq war in
2003, Guardsman Tromans.
● Poem talks about his experiences about shooting a looter dead in Iraq and how
this has affected him in his life.In a way to show the reader that the mental health
that he is suffering from can be prolonged over a long period of time even after
the physical conflict is over.
Context:
● This point was used to increase the awareness of PTSD with the military and to
gain sympathy amongst the public, many of whom were opposed to the war, and
we can gather this from the quote. ‘These are poems of survivors, the damaged,
exhausted men who returned from war embody but never fully in mind’
Language:
● ‘His blood shadow staining the street’ - Killing will haunt the soldier's future life
day after day. ‘Shadow’ is an imprinted memory of him that will stay in his mind
and that he is not proud of shooting of possibly innocent civilian,vivid description
as blood a stain is hard to get rid of. Writer’s Intention: So by using blood its
there to represent the guilt that the soldiers suffer from in the war and so when
they try to forget it haunts them even more and also the sibilance that’s used is
focused on the ‘stay’,’street’ could be anywhere. (Theme of guilt) (Life after
conflict)
● ‘Probably armed Possibly not’ - The reprises the phrase in stanza 1, to show how
he keeps reliving the past events - suggesting turmoil over his actions with
constant guilt and also mentioning that the killing was wrong, making his killing
unlawful. (Theme of guilt) (Life after conflict)
● ‘Sand- Smothered land or six feet-under in desert land’ - goes to the memory, so
the memory ‘Remains’ and adds to the sibilance with harsh experiences with ‘s’
also creating a sinister affect or he could be saying it when he’s angry, Stanza a
coherence that makes one feel that the story is leading to a sad conclusion so no
resolution. (Theme of anger)
