Compare Remains and War Photographer: Grade 9 Thesis & Quotes (AQA)

Quick Comparison Grid (The “Ninja Cheat Sheet”)

1. The Persistence of the Image: The “Blood-Shadow” vs. The “Half-Ghost”

Remains:

• The trauma is physical and inescapable. The looter’s body is “carted off,” but his “blood-shadow” remains on the street and, more importantly, in the soldier’s mind.
• The memory is intrusive: “I blink— / and he bursts out through the doors of the bank.” The soldier cannot control when the trauma reappears.
• Elite Link: The “blood-shadow” is a metaphor for PTSD—a permanent stain on the soldier’s conscience that no amount of “drink and the drugs” can flush away.

War Photographer:

• The trauma is visual and developing. The photographer sees a “half-ghost” appear on the paper as he develops the film. He is forced to relive the “cries” of the man’s wife.
• The memory is processed: He sets out his “spools of suffering” in “ordered rows,” trying to contain the horror within the frame of a photograph.
• Elite Link: The “half-ghost” represents the photographer’s own state—he is physically home, but mentally he is still “in a nightmare heat,” caught between two worlds.

Explore: Both poets use ghostly imagery to show that the dead do not stay in the war zone; they follow the survivors home and “haunt” their everyday lives.

2. The Failure of Domestic Safety: “Home on Leave” vs. “Rural England”

Remains:

• The soldier is “home on leave,” but the domestic space is compromised. He cannot sleep or dream without the looter “dug in behind enemy lines” in his head.
• The use of colloquial language (“legs it,” “tossed out”) shows his attempt to normalize the violence, but the final shift to “bloody hands” shows the failure of this defense.
• Elite Link: The war has moved from the “bank” in Iraq to the soldier’s own bedroom, showing that for the traumatized, there is no such thing as “home.”

War Photographer:

• The photographer is in “Rural England,” a place of “ordinary pain” and “weather.” This tranquil setting contrasts sharply with the “fields which don’t explode beneath the feet.”
• He feels a profound disconnect from his own society. The public will only see his “hundred agonies” between “the bath and pre-lunch beers.”
• Elite Link: The photographer’s “trembling” hands only start to shake when he is in the safety of the darkroom, showing that trauma often only surfaces when the “job” is done.

Explore: Both poems show that domestic life is an inadequate shield against the reality of war. The “safety” of home only makes the trauma feel more jarring.

3. Structure: The Confessional vs. The Ordered Row

Remains:

• The free verse and enjambment mimic the rambling, fragmented nature of a confession. The poem feels “unfiltered,” as if the soldier is finally letting the truth out.
• The final couplet acts as a structural “trap”—the poem stops rambling and forces the soldier to stare at his “bloody hands.”
• Elite Link: The shift from “we” (collective responsibility) to “I” (individual guilt) enacts the soldier’s realization that he is alone in his trauma.

War Photographer:

• The rigid four-stanza structure and regular rhyme scheme (AABB) reflect the photographer’s attempt to keep his emotions “ordered” and professional.
• However, the contrast between this tight structure and the horrific content shows the tension between his duty and his trauma.
• Elite Link: The final line—”they do not care”—is a blunt, monosyllabic end that reflects the photographer’s bitter realization that his “ordered” work has no impact.

Explore: Armitage uses structure to enact the breakdown of the soldier, while Duffy uses structure to enact the mask of the professional.

Context Comparison (AO3 Power Move)

Elite Insight: Armitage’s soldier is haunted by what he did, while Duffy’s photographer is haunted by what he saw. Both poets argue that war leaves “remains” that society prefers to ignore.

Exam Sentence Starters

1. “While Armitage explores the visceral guilt of a soldier haunted by his actions, Duffy depicts the professional isolation of a photographer haunted by his images…”
2. “Both poets utilize the metaphor of ‘staining’ to describe trauma: Armitage through the ‘blood-shadow’ on the street, and Duffy through the ‘blood stained into foreign dust’…”
3. “The ‘ordered rows’ of film in War Photographer serve as a chilling parallel to the ‘dozen rounds’ fired in Remains, as both represent the attempt to quantify and contain the chaos of war…”
4. “Armitage’s use of colloquial free verse mirrors the soldier’s psychological breakdown, whereas Duffy’s rigid stanza structure reflects the photographer’s desperate attempt to maintain order…”
5. “Contextually, Armitage’s ‘witnessing’ of modern PTSD parallels Duffy’s critique of societal indifference, as both poets expose the ‘remains’ of war that persist in the mind…”

FAQs

What is the best poem to compare with Remains?

War Photographer is excellent for the psychological burden of war. You can also compare it to Exposure for the reality of suffering or Kamikaze for social vs psychological death.

What is the best poem to compare with War Photographer?

Remains is perfect for guilt and trauma. Alternatively, compare it to Poppies for the “unseen” victims or London for societal indifference.

What is the best theme linking Remains and War Photographer?

The Lasting Psychological Impact of War—specifically, how the memory of violence (whether committed or witnessed) creates a permanent “stain” on the individual.

What quotes should I compare between Remains and War Photographer?

• “Blood-shadow” (Remains) vs. “Blood stained into foreign dust” (War Photographer)—the permanence of the memory.
• “He’s here in my head” (Remains) vs. “A half-ghost” (War Photographer)—the haunting presence of the dead.
• “His bloody life in my bloody hands” (Remains) vs. “He has a job to do” (War Photographer)—the personal guilt vs. the professional mask.

How do I compare structure in Remains and War Photographer?

Armitage uses fragmented free verse and a final couplet to show the soldier’s psychological trap. Duffy uses a rigid, ordered structure to show the photographer’s attempt to stay professional, which ultimately fails to hide his bitterness. Both use form to show the difficulty of processing war.

What is a Grade 9 thesis for Remains vs. War Photographer?

“While Armitage presents the visceral, intrusive guilt of a soldier who cannot escape the physical memory of killing, Duffy explores the clinical, professional isolation of a photographer haunted by his images, arguing that the ‘remains’ of war are psychological stains that cannot be washed away.”

Read Next

• Remains Revision Sheet
• War Photographer Revision Sheet
• Power & Conflict Comparisons Hub