Armitage — how he presents guilt and memory in "Remains"

Question 4 (10 marks)

How does Armitage present guilt and memory in "Remains"?

Mark scheme (AO1 + AO2 + AO3, 10 marks):

• Colloquial soldier's voice: "so we let fly" — casual language for lethal action; the vernacular creates authenticity but also moral unease (1–2 marks)
• The looter "comes back" in dreams: "he's still there in the same trench" — past and present collapse; the soldier cannot escape the memory; PTSD enacted in the poem's structure (1–2 marks)
• "Raking over the ashes / in my dreams" — the dead man is the one doing the haunting; the killer is haunted by his victim; the power relationship is reversed (1–2 marks)
• End: "End of story, except not really." — understated but devastating; the colloquial ("not really") undercuts the attempt to dismiss the experience; it cannot be ended (1–2 marks)
• AO3: Iraq War; the experience of returning soldiers; Armitage's interest in ordinary people facing moral extremity (1–2 marks)