Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Remains
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Context: this poem is based on the
account of a young British Soldier, called
Guardsman Troman, who served in Iraq
...
It dances around the theme and
damaging effects of PTSD, which is often
developed due to the traumatic and
violent situations soldiers are faced with
daily
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and tosses his guts back into his body/Then he’s carted off in the
back of a lorry” - these seem like very casual - and almost cold-hearted actions and could reflect how human life is wasted and soldiers become
disposable in warzones
...
This makes
the reality of conflict seem gory and incredibly sad
...
He says
that this situation is “dug in behind enemy lines”, suggesting the potential
PTSD experienced by the soldier
...

● “His bloody life in my bloody hands” - this may suggest that the
responsibility of the looter’s death has been put back on the narrator’s
shoulders, despite how “all three” of them opened fire
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However this very
prosaic language is left open to interpretation, as he could just be referencing
the horrific way in which the man died
...
This, once again,
may suggest the guilt felt by the narrator, and how he will never forgive
himself, or be mentally free of, the “crime”
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This makes
him seem as if he is just doing his job, however the greater and silent mental
impact that this action has on him appears to contradict this
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This creates an informal tone however this becomes more solemn
as the poem progresses
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This not only
reinforces the horrific violence of the Iraq war, but also how this is ordinary
and a part of the soldier’s everyday life
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● Repetition is also used to emphasise the soldier’s constant mental battle and
how he goes over the scenario in his mind
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