Wilfred Owen War Poem Analysis

‘Remains’ by Wilfred Owen is a war poem that presents an unnamed conflict where the soldier shoots the looter, but is unsure whether the man was armed or not. If the latter case, the shooting would have been unnecessary and would be thought as an act of murder. This acts as an emotional conflict arising to the soldier due to the situation. Similarly, in ‘Poppies’, the mother suffers from an emotional conflict arising from her yearning for her son as the mother seems to be speaking to the memories of her son. By the use of metaphor and imagery, both poets offer an emphasis on the idea of internal conflict arising to the persona of each poem. Both poets use metaphor to offer their readers a vivid image either on the guilt the narrator is feeling

Armitage uses the metaphor “[the soldier] see every run as it rips through [the looter’s] life - I see broad daylight on the other side” to emphasise that the looter has been assaulted, but the life of the soldier has also been ‘ripped through’ after his actions. By using this metaphor, it emphasises the pain and agony the soldier is suffering towards what has happened and the emphatic and enraged nature of his mind returning again and again to the scene of death. Moreover, the alliterative ‘r’s in 'rips’ and ‘round’; and a plosive ‘p’ to imitate the shot the soldier has shot towards the looter. This may imply that emphatic and enraged nature of his mind returning again and again to the scene of death, which further enacts towards him feeling more guilt arising from his actions. Furthermore, the poet also uses the metaphor to explain how the soldier has become so unemotional to the death of the looter as he has been facing these on a daily basis. Whereas in Poppies, Weir uses the metaphor “After you 'd gone I went into your

Imagery is another way the poets express the sense of internal conflict each character is feeling. As ‘Remains’ is used to portray how the soldier is being exposed to the guilt through shooting a looter, the imagery is used in ‘Remains’ vividly portrays the death of the looter. The word ‘bloody’ in ‘Remains’, from “[the looter’s bloody life in [the soldier’s] bloody hands,” we can successfully infer that he cannot reconcile whether it was an innocent act or not, but because he is unsure, the effects of PTSD has damaged his mental health more than him being aware if the looter was armed or not. Likewise, using the word ‘bloody’ in this context may suggest that the guilt lingers within him. Furthermore, the repetition of the word also shows how the speaker finds it difficult to differentiate between the looter and himself, and that his guilt has blurred the normal process of logic in him showing the internal conflict within the soldier himself. Moreover, this evokes the sense of disgust towards the situation from the audience while evoking pity towards the soldier because they also get an image that is vivid allowing them to feel how the soldier felt when he saw those blood of the looter in his hands. The persona from “Poppies” recall when she had “sellotape bandaged around [her] hand, [she] rounded up as many white cat hairs.” This image echoes with the scene at the battlefield where the son gets injured as well as the family’s domestic happiness they feel when they are