Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore memories. In the second stanza of ‘War Photographer’, Duffy creates a vivid image of one of the photographer’s memories by writing ‘running children in a nightmare heat’. Duffy’s words create graphic, powerful imagery of innocent children caught up in the middle of a warzone, running in agony and terror away from a chemical weapon. Duffy suggests through these words that the photographer's mind is always filled with powerful and upsetting memories of the terrible things he witnessed while taking photos in warzones. Armitage makes clear the soldier cannot forget the memory of shooting the looter by writing ‘probably armed, possibly not’. Armitage’s repetition of these words in the poem emphasise that this particular memory, of whether or not the looter is armed, is very important. It is important because the soldier is wondering whether or not he needed to kill the looter. If the looter was not armed, the soldier killed an innocent person, who posed no threat to him. Armitage’s use of the word ‘possibly’ indicates that the soldier cannot be sure that the looter was armed, and runs this memory over and over in his mind. Armitage’s repetition of these words also emphasise the power of this memory, as it keeps flooding back into the soldier’s mind, even when he is home on leave. It is clear from both poems that being in or near war can deeply affect people, leaving them with lasting trauma.
Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore guilt. In the third stanza of War Photographer, Duffy makes the photographer’s guilt clear by writing that he sees a ‘half-formed ghost’ when he develops one of the photographs. Duffy’s imagery in the words ‘half-formed’ helps the reader to imagine the photograph slowly developing in front of his eyes. Her use of the word ‘ghost’ implies that the photographer is being haunted by the memory of this man and the cries of the man’s wife when she realised her husband was dead. Duffy suggests he feels guilty because he was not able to do more to help this man or his wife; all he could do was stand by and take a photograph. Similarly, in the closing lines of ‘Remains’, Armitage makes the soldier’s guilt clear by writing ‘his bloody life in my bloody hands’. Armitage uses the blood as a symbol of the guilt that the soldier feels; the soldier feels he has blood on his hands because he killed a person who could have been innocent. Armitage could have chosen to end the poem with this line because he wanted to demonstrate that the soldier cannot remove the image of the looter’s blood from his mind, and that the guilt he feels for killing the looter will stay with him forever.
Both poems explore struggle. In the final stanza of ‘War Photographer’, Duffy conveys the struggle of the photographer, who feels angry that his readers are not more moved by his pictures by writing ‘reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre lunch beers’. Duffy’s use of the word ‘prick’ to describe the readers’ emotions indicates that they barely cry when they see the photographs. Duffy’s suggestion is that, when we are so far removed from war, we cannot fully understand the pain that people go through. Duffy’s use of the words ‘bath’ and ‘beers’ remind the reader that in England we have many luxuries that people in warzones don’t have. This makes it very easy for us to forget the terrible lives that other people have, because we can go back to enjoying our own luxurious lifestyles. The struggle in Remains is different. In Remains, Armitage presents the soldier as deeply traumatised by what he experienced at war. Remains makes clear the soldier struggles to forget what he saw and did by writing ‘the drink and drugs won’t flush him out’.Armitage’s use of the word ‘flush’ implies that the emotions the soldier feels are like toxins within his body that he wants to get rid of. It is clear that the soldier has become reliant on addictive substances as a way of coping. Armitage conveys to his readers the terrible trauma that many soldiers experienced and tells the reader how difficult it was for them to return to normal life when they returned.
Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore the haunting power of memories. In the second stanza of ‘War Photographer’, Duffy creates a vivid image of one of the photographer’s memories by writing ‘running children in a nightmare heat’. Here, Duffy’s words create graphic, powerful imagery of innocent children caught up in the middle of a warzone, running in agony and terror away from a chemical weapon. This poetic image was inspired by a real-life photograph captured by a war photographer in Vietnam. Through this evocative imagery, Duffy suggests that the photographer's mind cannot shake the distressing memories of the terrible pain he witnessed while taking photos in warzones. Similarly, Armitage makes clear the soldier cannot forget the memory of shooting the looter through his use of the poem’s refrain: ‘probably armed, possibly not’. Armitage’s repetition of these words emphasise that this particular ambiguous memory, of whether or not the looter is armed, is haunting him. If the looter was not armed, the soldier would not have needed to kill him. Therefore, he is plagued by a feeling of potential guilt; ihe could have killed an innocent person, who posed no threat to him. Armitage’s repetition of these words throughout the poem also emphasise the power of this memory, as it keeps flooding back into the soldier’s mind, even when he is home on leave. It is an unwelcome and persistent reminder that is contributing to his post-traumatic symptoms. It is clear from both poems that being involved in or an observer of war can deeply affect people, leaving them with a lasting mental struggle.
Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore the intensity of guilt. In the third stanza of War Photographer, Duffy makes the photographer’s guilt evident by writing that he sees a ‘half-formed ghost’ when he develops one of the photographs. Duffy’s powerful metaphor helps the reader to vividly imagine the photograph slowly developing in a chemical solution in front of his eyes, while the word ‘ghost’ implies that the photographer is being psychologically haunted by the memory of this man and the terrible cries of the man’s wife. Perhaps Duffy suggests that the photographer feels guilty because he was not able to do more to help this man or his wife; all he could do was carry out his role by capturing the moment with a photograph for the media. TSimilarly, in the closing lines of ‘Remains’, Armitage makes the soldier’s guilt clear by writing ‘his bloody life in my bloody hands’. Armitage uses the blood as a symbol of the guilt that the soldier feels; the soldier feels he has blood on his hands because he killed a person who could have been innocent. Armitage could have chosen to end the poem with this line because he wanted to demonstrate that the soldier cannot remove the image of the looter’s blood from his mind, and that the guilt he feels for killing the looter will stay with him, or metaphorically stain him, forever.
Both poems explore an inner conflict or struggle. In the final stanza of ‘War Photographer’, Duffy conveys the struggle of the photographer, who feels infuriated that his readers are not more emotionally moved by his pictures by writing ‘reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre lunch beers’. Duffy’s use of the word ‘prick’ to describe the readers’ emotions indicates that they barely cry when they see the photographs, or that their emotion is transient because they cannot empathise with the people in the photographs as they are so far removed from conflict zones. Duffy’s use of the words ‘bath’ and ‘beers’ remind the reader that in England we have many everyday luxuries that people in warzones don’t have. This makes it easy and almost inevitable for us to forget the terrible lives that other people have, because we are so engrossed in our own luxurious lifestyles. While there is an emotional struggle for the soldier in Remains, the nature of the strife is different. In Remains, Armitage presents the soldier as deeply traumatised by what he experienced at war. Remains makes clear the soldier struggles to forget what he saw and how he behaved by writing ‘the drink and drugs won’t flush him out’.Here, Armitage’s use of the word ‘flush’ implies that the emotions the soldier feels are like toxins within his body that he wants to eject. It is clear that the soldier has become reliant on addictive substances as a way of coping with the devastating effects of war and its violent agony. Armitage conveys to his readers the terrible trauma that many soldiers experience, and exposes to the reader how difficult it is for soldiers to adapt to normal life when they return from war.
Both Duffy and Armitage use structure to reflect an attempt to control difficult emotions. In ‘War Photographer,’ Duffy deliberately uses a tight stanza structure with a clear rhyme scheme to mirror the order the photographer is trying to restore in his own mind. He is described as putting his photographs into “ordered rows,” just as Duffy carefully brings order to the poem. Perhaps she is suggesting that this sort of organisation is the only way he can eliminate the chaos and distress he struggles with. In Armitage’s poem, the soldier is less successful in containing his emotional outpourings. While the poem begins in an ordered way with regular stanza structures, it descends into irregular and erratic stanzas to perhaps symbolise his inability to control the traumatic memories which continue to flood his mind.