Comparative Essay

In this essay I will explore how the theme of power is conveyed, in the poems ‘Remains’ and ‘War Photographer’. I’ll also analyse how the authors, Duffy and Armitage, use language and language techniques to do this, and the ways these might be similar or differ. The theme of power is explored in many different. It could, and has been, used to express how something one might not have seen to hold any power, might do so: such as indifference or ignorance. However, guilt in itself is a very powerful emotion, but when it has the power to control or destroy, as it is presented in both poems, the effect it has can be very damaging.

Within both ‘Remains’ and ‘War Photographer’, the power of guilt is presented to the reader using different techniques. In ‘Remains’ the speaker says that if he “blinks” he sees “him burst again through the doors of the bank. Sleep, and he’s probably armed, possibly not. Dream, and he’s torn apart by a dozen rounds”. This suggests that the speaker is haunted by the memory of that day, not able to remove the memory of the events leading up to/the killing of the looter. Armitage uses rhythm to present this idea. The words “blink”, “sleep” and “dream”, provide the poem some rhythm, with which Armitage suggests that these ‘flashbacks’ follow a similar flow to that of the words, presenting the reader with a feeling that these flashbacks never escape the speaker and almost follow a continuous loop. The War Photographer talks about how he ‘‘remembers the cries of this man’s [war casualty] wife’’ and how he ‘‘sought approval without word’’. What this shows is that the War Photograph felt guilty as he took picture of this man without providing help, watching as the woman cried beside her dying husband and how he also felt the need to be alleviated from this guilt. Duffy does this by using imagery. The image created by thinking of the ‘cries’ of a woman beside her dying husband, helps the reader understand why the War Photographer feels guilty after having taken the photos. This contrasts heavily to the way Armitage presented guilt as his was more direct, telling the reader how unable he was to forget those events, while Duffy’s use of imagery presented guilt in a more subtle way.

As well as the power of guilt, the power of indifference in the face of conflict is prominent. In ‘Remains’ it is shown through another character, meanwhile in the ‘War Photographer’ it is the speaker that displays the indifference. For ‘‘Remains’’ after the looter has been killed and his dead body lays on the ground, the speakers ‘‘mate’’ walks over to the body and ‘‘tosses his guts back in’’ before the body is ‘‘carted off in a lorry’’. By using words such as “tosses” and ‘‘mate’’, Armitage creates a jovial tone within the poem, this in turn, creates a harsh contrast with the theme of the poem, further pushing this idea of indifference. Armitage also creates a rhyme between the words ‘‘body’’ and ‘‘lorry’’.  Upon reading these words, the reader is almost meant to dismiss the seriousness of what has happened, which further presents the idea that indifference is powerful. On the other hand, in the ‘War Photographer’ we are shown that the speaker himself is the one that is indifferent to what he has done. As he is developing the photos, he lists off the countries where he has taken the pictures in: “Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.”. When this is done, it gives the reader this idea of the speaker ticking-off the counties on a list, such as one would do with a bucket list. This laxity illustrates how indifferent the speaker was when he first took/developed the photos.

The power of ignorance is an idea that both poems play with, however it is not the speakers that show it, but the ‘general public’ of each ‘closed system’ that each of the poems exist in. In ‘Remains’ after the speaker has killed the looter and he’s back home, he says that the man is “here in my head” and not in “some distant … sand smothered land”. At first glance, this could illustrate the speaker’s mental condition, almost comparable to PTSD, but it could also be inferring to this man being envious of others for not having to live with the fact of having killed someone. When Armitage uses the phrase “some distant, sand-smothered land”, it give the reader a sense that the speaker is trying to distance himself from the situation, as if he was just another citizen, and not a soldier, which illustrates his  struggle to be ‘ignorant’ of what has happened. In the ‘War Photographer’ the speaker talks about how the “five or six” photos picked out for “Sundays supplement”, will make the “reader’s eyeballs prick with tears” before they back to their routine of a nice “bath” or “pre-lunch” beers. When Duffy uses the phrase “prick with tears”, it gives the reader the sense that the speaker is cynical of the reader’s reaction of the photos as they maybe be on the verge of crying for a second but they then forget it about it on the same day, going back to their ordinary routine. This change of attitude from ‘reader’, helps to understand why the ‘War Photographer’ maybe chase this type of ignorance.

To conclude, power is explored through both poems, by showing how powerful guilt, indifference (In the face of conflict), and ignorance (or more specifically the chase for ignorance) can be. The power of guilt, in Remains, is shown through the way Armitage used rhythm to show the fluidity it [Guilt] has, the way it can haunt a person. Duffy, on the other hand, used imagery to paint a picture of a suffering woman, who has lost her husband meanwhile all the ‘War Photographer’ has done is take picture instead of helping. The speaker also mentioned how he sought ‘approval’ for what he did, instead of being antagonised. Indifference was explored through the way the speaker’s friends/colleges deal with the man’s body. Armitage used language to create a jovial tone as the speaker’s “mate” “tossed” the dead man’s body into a “lorry”.  Duffy also uses language, but the indifference, this time, is shown by the speaker himself. The countries where he has been to take photos are listed off, almost as if they were part of a bucket list. Finally, ignorance was shown through the actions the ‘readers’ within both poems.