Comparing the Lasting Effects of War in Remains and Kamikaze
Both poems show how guilt and memory become overwhelming forces that destroy lives long after conflicts end. However, they present completely different scenarios - one involving a soldier haunted by killing, the other focused on a man punished for choosing not to die.
Remains uses brutal, sensory language to show PTSD's grip on soldiers. The phrase "blood-shadow stays on the streets" creates vivid imagery that makes you almost experience the trauma yourself. The word "shadow" is particularly clever - shadows follow you everywhere, just like PTSD haunts soldiers constantly. Armitage wants us to understand the daily reality these veterans face.
The extended metaphor of blood runs throughout the poem, culminating in "his bloody life in my bloody hands." This polysemic phrase works on multiple levels - it's colloquial soldier language, but also refers to guilt and responsibility. The Shakespeare connection to Macbeth reinforces how murder psychologically destroys people across time and literature.
Kamikaze presents the opposite scenario but similar isolation. Where the soldier in Remains is haunted by killing, the pilot faces social death for not dying. The line "he must have wondered which was the better way to die" shows how surrender was considered as terrible as death itself in Japanese wartime culture.
Key insight: Both poems show that war creates impossible choices - kill and live with trauma, or refuse to fight and face social exile.
The third-person narrative in Kamikaze emphasises emotional distance - even his family couldn't see him as "the father we loved" (note the past tense). The colour imagery of "black crabs" symbolises death following him regardless of his choices, whilst "turbulent" suggests his internal mental battle about turning back.