Compare Remains and Bayonet Charge: Grade 9 Thesis & Quotes (AQA)

Quick Comparison Grid (The “Ninja Cheat Sheet”)

1. The Moment vs. The Memory (Time & Trauma)

Bayonet Charge:

• Hughes uses in medias res (“Suddenly he awoke”) to thrust the reader into the immediate terror of combat.
• The soldier is “running” but also “stationary”—time collapses under the weight of adrenaline.
• Elite Link: The “patriot tear” that “smashed” shows how abstract ideology (patriotism) is destroyed in the moment by physical fear.

Remains:

• Armitage uses present tense (“On another occasion”) to show the memory is still happening in the soldier’s mind.
• The repetition of “probably armed, possibly not” shows the moral ambiguity that haunts him—he can’t “settle” the question.
• Elite Link: The phrase “dug in behind enemy lines” uses military metaphor to show the memory has invaded his domestic life—the war followed him home.

Explore: Compare how Hughes shows ideology collapsing during conflict, while Armitage shows it collapsing after—both poets argue that the state abandons soldiers to carry the trauma alone.

2. Dehumanisation: Machine vs. Ghost (Identity & Power)

Bayonet Charge:

• The soldier becomes a “rifle” and his terror is “cold clockwork”—he is mechanised by the state.
• The hare’s “threshing circle” mirrors the soldier’s own loss of control—both are caught in a “machinery” they can’t escape.
• Elite Link: The “green hedge” that was once a symbol of home becomes “dazzled with rifle fire”—nature itself is weaponised.

Remains:

• The looter becomes a “blood-shadow”—he is spectral, haunting the speaker’s vision even in civilian life.
• The casual tone (“one of my mates”) contrasts with the horror, showing how soldiers are trained to normalise killing.
• Elite Link: The phrase “his bloody life in my bloody hands” uses the pun on “bloody” (literal blood + British slang) to show how violence becomes part of everyday language—trauma is embedded in speech.

Explore: Both poets show how conflict strips away humanity, but Hughes focuses on the physical transformation (man → machine), while Armitage focuses on the psychological transformation (killer → haunted).

3. Structure: Chaos vs. Confession (Form Reflects Trauma)

Bayonet Charge:

• Enjambment and caesura create a breathless, fragmented rhythm (“In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations / Was he the hand pointing that second?”).
• The three stanzas mirror the three stages: charge → realisation → survival instinct.
• Elite Link: The final line (“His terror’s touchy dynamite”) is isolated, showing the soldier is left alone with his fear—no resolution, no heroism.

Remains:

• Free verse and colloquial language (“well myself and somebody else and somebody else”) mimic the rambling, repetitive nature of PTSD testimony.
• The lack of stanza breaks in the opening suggests the memory is one continuous, unbroken loop.
• Elite Link: The shift to shorter lines at the end (“Sleep, and he’s probably armed, possibly not”) shows the trauma tightening around the speaker—the structure enacts the claustrophobia of guilt.

Explore: Hughes uses structure to show the chaos of battle, while Armitage uses structure to show the monotony of trauma—both prove that form is never just decoration; it’s part of the argument.

Context Comparison (AO3 Power Move)

Elite Insight: Both poets critique how the state uses soldiers as tools, but Hughes focuses on the ideological machinery of war, while Armitage focuses on the institutional abandonment after war.

How to Use This in Your Essay

1. Introduction: Use an “Elite Thesis” sentence (adapted for your own voice).
2. Body Paragraphs: Pick 2–3 of the comparison points above and expand them with your own analysis.
3. Conclusion: Return to the idea that both poets show conflict destroys identity, but in different temporal ways—Hughes shows the destruction during battle, Armitage shows it after.