All The Points You Can Make For ‘Remains’ In An Essay

Here is a quick list of pretty much everything you can say about ‘Remains’ if you’re writing a Power and Conflict AQA GCSE Literature essay! It’s written in note form so you can get to grips with the ideas as quickly as possible.

If you want an in-depth analysis of the poem and its themes, take a look at our revision guide or check out our Complete Revision Pack below. 

Remains

• PTSD and the lasting impact of war 

• The perspective of the perpetrator, not the victim 

• Guilt and regret 

• Stark, violent and graphic depiction of the action of war 

• Modern warfare - the questionable ethics of the Gulf War 

• Based on a real-life interview - the true voice of soldiers and their perspective on war 

• Psychological death / irrecoverable past self before a traumatic event 

• Accidents in war / innocent casualties of war 

• Haunting effects of memory - leading to addiction and depression 

• Powerlessness of the individual in war 

• Hierarchical chain of command 

• Sense of responsibility / futile attempt to avoid responsibility 

• Inner battles with demons vs external battles / wider conflicts 

• War’s rippling devastation in the lives of those involved 

• Questioning the idealism of war 

• Demystification and de-glorification of war - a realistic and earnest perspective 

• A cautionary tale against following propagandistic notions of heroism 

• Collectivism - several soldiers fire at once 

• Sense of isolation and detachment/disconnection from others 

• Brutality of modern warfare - machine guns and their harsh / imprecise way of killing 

---

Thanks for reading!

Need more help? Take a look at our Complete Power + Conflict Revision Course!

This course includes: 

• A full breakdown of all the poems 

• Tons of theme, context and language/structure/form analysis 

• Key quotes 

• Practice essay questions 

• Grades 5-9 example answers 

• + more!