How is inner conflict shown in remains and one other poem of your choice?
Other poem: War Photographer
Remains by Simon Armitage was written for a soldier who served in Basra, Iraq in a war that happened after the second world war. The poem was a part of a collection of poems called ‘The Not Dead’ which was based on the experiences of soldiers in The Gulf, Bosnian and Malayan Wars. The poem talks about the experience of a soldier who suffers from PTSD after him and two other soldiers killed looters stealing from a bank. On the other hand, War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy is from the perspective of a War Photographer, not a soldier. The poem was written because the Poet was friend with a War photographer, and she intrigued by their job. This poem talks about the inner conflict the photographer faces as he is in the darkroom developing his picture and suffering the memories of the horrifying things witnessed when taking them. The poem differentiate as ‘War Photographer’ explores the inner conflict of the photographer who shoot with their camera’s rather than their guns. Both poems were written to raise awareness for people who suffer from PTSD after witnessing war.
The inner conflict of the soldier is shown by Armitage through the use the last line of the poem to create imagery within the poem. In the line “His bloody life in my bloody hands” the repetition of the word ‘bloody’ show us that this memory of the death keeps returning. This further highlights the inner conflict as this man is tortured by the horrifying memories of war and is full of guilt for taking the life of the looters that were stealing from the bank. This makes the reader of the poem sympathize with him. The poem was written for a soldier who served in Basra, Iraq and is based a real experience of the soldier that he never forgot. On the other hand, Duffy shows the inner conflict of the war photographer using colour and a metaphor. Since the picture is “Black and white” it makes the torture and memories of the poem seem very simple and uncomplicated which is ironic because that is exactly the opposite of what war is. Also, Duffy is suggesting that people who are struggling with their inner conflict are not getting enough recognition for the pain that they have caused. The colours are compared to the “hundred agonies” of the war photographer. The use of the word ‘agonies’ highlights the suffering of the photographer and creates an image of pain and conflict inside the photographer mind. This portrays the inner conflict of the photographer and creates a graphic image of people suffering from the war. This further shows that he has become desensitised to war. The poem comes from her friendship with Don McCullin and Philip Jones Griffiths who were war photographers. Furthermore, the use of Alliteration also portrays the inner conflict the soldier in Remains. In the poem, the use of alliteration in prominent in the line “every round as it rips through his life”. The extremely harsh ‘r’ sound creates a graphic and brutal imagery of the killing that went on. The image of the bullet ‘rip’ through the man’s body shows us how the poet does not spare any details whatsoever of the shooting which more so highlights the disturbing nature of the poem. This clearly portrays the trauma that the soldier carries with him even after the war has finished. The poet of War Photographer uses sibilance to highlight the inner conflict of the war photographer. “Spools of suffering” shows the use of sibilance to draw attention to the pain and suffering that the photographer went through. The repeated ‘s’ creates a hissing sound almost as if the person talking should not talk about their struggles as if the inner conflict is being disregarded by everyone. Both poems are different through a lot of the language and imagery in them.
