AQA Power and Conflict

Remains Quotes3 key quotes with full analysis.

A soldier recounts shooting a looter and is then haunted by guilt and trauma after returning home.

by Simon Armitage

Context

Published in 2008, based on a real soldier's testimony from the Iraq War. The poem explores post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and lasting guilt.

All Remains Quotes

“myself and somebody else and somebody else are all of the same mind, so all three of us open fire”
Reality of WarGuilt

Context: The soldier-speaker recalls shooting a looter during a tour of duty.

Analysis

The polysyndeton "and somebody else and somebody else" lets the speaker spread the blame across three soldiers, distancing himself from the killing. The colloquial, conversational tone ("of the same mind") makes the violence sound ordinary and rehearsed. This attempt to share responsibility collapses later when guilt makes him take it alone.

Language Techniques:

PolysyndetonColloquial dictionPlural pronouns

Exam Tip

Use for guilt and shared responsibility. Track how "all three of us" shrinks to "his bloody life in my bloody hands" — the guilt becomes singular.

“I see every round as it rips through his life - I see broad daylight on the other side”
Reality of WarMemory

Context: The speaker vividly relives the moment the looter is shot.

Analysis

The present tense "I see" shows the memory replaying involuntarily — a symptom of PTSD that traps him in the moment. The violent verb "rips" and the image of seeing "broad daylight on the other side" of the body convey graphic, inescapable detail. War's trauma is shown to be ongoing, not over.

Language Techniques:

Present tenseViolent verbGraphic imagery

Exam Tip

Key quote for the lasting psychological effects of conflict (PTSD). The shift to present tense shows he cannot escape the memory.

“his bloody life in my bloody hands”
GuiltMemory

Context: The final line, as the speaker is consumed by guilt back home.

Analysis

The double meaning of "bloody" — as both a literal bloodstain and a colloquial swear word — conveys frustration and indelible guilt. The allusion to Lady Macbeth's "out, damned spot" links his guilt to a stain that cannot be washed away. Responsibility, once shared, now rests entirely on him.

Language Techniques:

Double entendreAllusionEnd-stopped line

Exam Tip

A brilliant closing quote. The Macbeth allusion ("bloody hands") is a sophisticated link to make about inescapable guilt.

Compare Remains With…

In the exam you compare two poems on a shared theme. These poems share themes with Remains:

Extract from The PreludeWilliam WordsworthThe Charge of the Light BrigadeAlfred Lord TennysonExposureWilfred OwenBayonet ChargeTed Hughes

Explore More Power and Conflict Poems

View key quotes and analysis for all 15 poems in the AQA anthology.

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