Themes: Desensitisation &Trauma
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Power & Conflict, topic 15.1.2
Dehumanisation of Soldiers
Like the soldiers in ‘Bayonet Charge’ and ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’, the soldiers here are following orders. There is no room for their thoughts or feelings about the value of human life. Armitage uses vague and colloquial (conversational) language to show that the speaker is desensitised to war:
Colloquial language
- The poem opens with the phrase “on another occasion” and includes other colloquial (conversational) language, such as “Well myself and somebody else and somebody else”.
- This kind of language shows that experiences, such as the one described, were common.
- The soldiers are almost desensitised to the horrors of conflict when they are immersed in it.
Vague language
- “This looter”.
- This kind of language could show how soldiers dehumanised those they attacked.
- They may have done this to make it easier to deal with taking another human’s life.
Colloquial verbs
- “Tosses” and “carted off”.
- Casual, colloquial (conversational) verbs indicate the soldiers’ lack of regard or respect for human life in war.
Trauma
The poet explores a lesser discussed aspect of war: returning home and living with the traumatic memories of acts committed in war. Here are some of the techniques Armitage uses to explore post-war trauma:
Sensory language
- “I see” conveys a sense of the trauma it has caused the soldier. It's as though it is branded on his memory.
- The use of the present tense relates to the idea that this suffering is ongoing. It suggests he constantly re-plays the memories.
Metaphor
- “His blood shadow stays”.
- This metaphor creates the image of something dark that cannot be dispelled. It is related to his memory.
- Blood is related to death.
- Shadow relates to a memory that lingers. He is constantly reminded of what he did.
Trauma
The poet explores a lesser discussed aspect of war: returning home and living with the traumatic memories of acts committed in war. Here are some of the techniques Armitage uses to explore post-war trauma:
Violent verb
- “Bursts”.
- This verb highlights how the image erupts into his mind without warning.
"Flush"
- “And the drink and drugs won’t flush him out”.
- This phrase indicates the speaker’s desperation to rid himself of the harrowing memories.
- The verb “flush” suggests that something needs to be cleansed or disposed of.
- It links to the unpleasantness of his memories.
Short sentence and caesura
- “End of story, except not really”.
- The speaker believed the memories would remain at war when he left.
- The short sentence and the caesura could reflect his stark (sudden) realisation that he will continue to be plagued by them.
Test yourself on Themes: Desensitisation &Trauma
What might the colloquial (conversational) verbs “tosses” and “carted off” suggest about the soldiers' attitudes in Remains?
Which of these quotes could you use to talk about the theme of trauma in Remains?
“And the drink and drugs won’t flush him out”
Which word in this quote relates to the idea of cleansing and disposing of something?