English GCSE AQA: Comprehensive Analysis of the Power and Conflict Poems

Remains (2007) - Simon Armitage

Précis: This is the story of a soldier in an unnamed conflict. He shoots a looter as a response to orders but is unsure whether the man was armed or not. If the latter, the shooting was unnecessary and an act of murder. 

Context: The poem is written from the perspective of a soldier. While he is on patrol, he fires on some bank robbers. One of the looters appeared to possibly have a gun so they open fire. The rest of the poem is looking at the fact the solider, even long after this event, cannot leave the memory behind and carries this dead man with him in his mind. 

Post-traumatic stress and mental illness are very common in soldiers who struggle to come to terms with some part of their duty, normally a horrific memory of killing or being in danger which gives them nightmares and panic attacks as well as depression and sometimes suicidal tendencies. Simon Armitage is a famous UK poet who is known for being very direct in his work. His recent poems have looked at the experiences of war and soldiers. PTSD gained notoriety after the Vietnam War. Of course, it was about, often referred to as shell-shock, however, it was not taken as seriously (there are accounts of generals such as George S. Patton slapping shell-shocked soldiers in World War II) and wasn't viewed as a mental health issue until wars like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  The reference to "desert sand" in this poem suggests that it could reflect the experiences of soldiers in the Gulf War (1990-91).

Simon Armitage's poetry is known for its colloquial style, strong rhythms and voice. He deals with personal relationships, often drawing on his own life experience. He often uses the monologue form in his poetry to create immediate and moving characters. His delivery is deadpan and sometimes darkly humorous.  This particular poem lacks the humour of some of his other work and instead presents a dark and disturbing image of a soldier suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

Themes: A number of unifying ideas or run through the poem. Different readers may attach more or less significance to each of these themes, depending on how they view the poem. 

Guilt: the speaker in this poem is haunted by the guilt of taking another man's life. He is upset by the fact that the man might have been innocent.  The phrase "probably armed, possibly not" is repeated in the poem, emphasising the speaker's sense of discomfort at having killed another human being who may have been innocent.  

Conflict: the speaker is acting under orders and is engaged in combat in another country. The physical description of the place is dry and dusty, reminding the reader of images of newsreel scenes of wars. The men were "sent out", showing that they were soldiers acting under orders: "dug in behind enemy lines,/ not left for dead in some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered land".

Life and death: the looter is killed by rounds of bullets that the group of soldiers sent into him. Life for the looter is instantly and brutally ended. The way the speaker sees "broad daylight on the other side" suggests the speed with which everything happens. One minute there is a man who is alive and the next, nothing: "I see every round as it rips through his life/ I see broad daylight on the other side".

The poem is originally set in a war zone and naturally looks at conflict in a direct way. However, it also looks heavily at the after-effects of conflict and the long-term effects it has on the people involved. Power is partly shown in this as well, firstly the soldiers' power over life and death but later the power over their own memory and experiences. Mental health and morality are also key in this.  

Structure: Remains is formed of eight stanzas. The first seven stanzas are in largely unrhymed quatrains. The final stanza consists of only two lines and therefore stands out, emphasising the fact the speaker cannot rid himself of the memory of the killing. It could also imply disintegration in the speaker's state of mind.