Grade 9 GCSE AQA power and conflict poetry comparison essays.
Includes: 9 comparison essays (remains-war photographer, Ozymandias-my last duchess, Ozymandias-London, London-tissue, the prelude-storm on the island, the emigree-checking out me history, the charge of the light brigade-exposure, the c...
Both poems ‘Remains’ and ‘War photographer’ explore the reality in which soldiers experience mental and psychological
trauma as a result of war and are taunted by the inescapable memory of war. They present the ways in which war haunts
people and means they are trapped in an inescapable prison of guilt.
Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore the haunting power of memories. In the second stanza of ‘War
Photographer’, Duffy creates a vivid image of one of the photographer’s memories by writing ‘running children in a
nightmare heat’. Here, Duffy’s words create graphic, powerful imagery of innocent children caught up in the middle of a
warzone, running in agony and terror away from a chemical weapon. This poetic image was inspired by a real-life
photograph captured by a war photographer in Vietnam. Through this evocative imagery, Duffy suggests that the
photographer's mind cannot shake the distressing memories of the terrible pain he witnessed while taking photos in
warzones. Similarly, Armitage makes clear the soldier cannot forget the memory of shooting the looter through his use of
the poem’s refrain: ‘probably armed, possibly not’. Armitage’s repetition of these words emphasise that this particular
ambiguous memory, of whether or not the looter is armed, is haunting him. If the looter was not armed, the soldier would
not have needed to kill him. Therefore, he is plagued by a feeling of potential guilt; he could have killed an innocent
person, who posed no threat to him. Armitage’s repetition of these words throughout the poem also emphasise the power
of this memory, as it keeps flooding back into the soldier’s mind, even when he is home on leave. It is an unwelcome and
persistent reminder that is contributing to his post-traumatic symptoms. It is clear from both poems that being involved in
or an observer of war can deeply affect people, leaving them with a lasting mental struggle.
Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore the intensity of guilt. In the third stanza of War Photographer, Duffy makes
the photographer’s guilt evident by writing that he sees a ‘half-formed ghost’ when he develops one of the photographs.
Duffy’s powerful metaphor helps the reader to vividly imagine the photograph slowly developing in a chemical solution in
front of his eyes, while the word ‘ghost’ implies that the photographer is being psychologically haunted by the memory of
this man and the terrible cries of the man’s wife. Perhaps Duffy suggests that the photographer feels guilty because he was
not able to do more to help this man or his wife; all he could do was carry out his role by capturing the moment with a
photograph for the media. Similarly, in the closing lines of ‘Remains’, Armitage makes the soldier’s guilt clear by writing ‘his
bloody life in my bloody hands’. Armitage uses the blood as a symbol of the guilt that the soldier feels; the soldier feels he
has blood on his hands because he killed a person who could have been innocent. Armitage could have chosen to end the
poem with this line because he wanted to demonstrate that the soldier cannot remove the image of the looter’s blood
from his mind, and that the guilt he feels for killing the looter will stay with him, or metaphorically stain him, forever.
Both poems explore an inner conflict or struggle. In the final stanza of ‘War Photographer’, Duffy conveys the struggle of
the photographer, who feels infuriated that his readers are not more emotionally moved by his pictures by writing
‘reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre lunch beers’. Duffy’s use of the word ‘prick’ to describe the
readers’ emotions indicates that they barely cry when they see the photographs, or that their emotion is transient because
they cannot empathise with the people in the photographs as they are so far removed from conflict zones. Duffy’s use of
the words ‘bath’ and ‘beers’ remind the reader that in England we have many everyday luxuries that people in warzones
don’t have. This makes it easy and almost inevitable for us to forget the terrible lives that other people have, because we
are so engrossed in our own luxurious lifestyles. While there is an emotional struggle for the soldier in Remains, the nature
of the strife is different. In Remains, Armitage presents the soldier as deeply traumatised by what he experienced at war.
Remains makes clear the soldier struggles to forget what he saw and how he behaved by writing ‘the drink and drugs won’t
flush him out’. Here, Armitage’s use of the word ‘flush’ implies that the emotions the soldier feels are like toxins within his
body that he wants to eject. It is clear that the soldier has become reliant on addictive substances as a way of coping with
the devastating effects of war and its violent agony. Armitage conveys to his readers the terrible trauma that many soldiers
experience, and exposes to the reader how difficult it is for soldiers to adapt to normal life when they return from war.
Both Duffy and Armitage use structure to reflect an attempt to control difficult emotions. In ‘War Photographer,’ Duffy
deliberately uses a tight stanza structure with a clear rhyme scheme to mirror the order the photographer is trying to
restore in his own mind. He is described as putting his photographs into “ordered rows,” just as Duffy carefully brings order
to the poem. Perhaps she is suggesting that this sort of organisation is the only way he can eliminate the chaos and distress
he struggles with. In Armitage’s poem, the soldier is less successful in containing his emotional outpourings. While the
poem begins in an ordered way with regular stanza structures, it descends into irregular and erratic stanzas to perhaps
symbolise his inability to control the traumatic memories which continue to flood his mind.
, Ozymandias and my last duchess
Shelley’s sonnet and Browning’s dramatic monologue explore ideas about power and inequalities that reflect the times in
which they were writing. In Ozymandias, Shelley presents a once powerful ruler whose control and reign does not last,
while Browning’s Duke shows no sign of losing any of his power. In ‘My Last Duchess’, Browning criticises the superiority,
power and arrogance that many upper class Victorian men demonstrated over their wives, while Shelley’s poem seems to
suggest that while rulers- such as George IV- may seem all powerful, their rules will not last.
Both Ozymandias and My Last Duchess explore rulers who feel superior to those around them. In Ozymandias, Shelley tells
the story of a traveller who comes across a statue of an ancient ruler, emphasising that the ancient ruler looked down on
his people by writing ‘sneer of cold command’. This imagery helps the reader to imagine the facial expression of the statue,
which gives the reader an indication of the kind of ruler Ozymandias was. The alliterative ‘cold command’ implies that
Ozymandias was a heartless and unfeeling ruler who did not show any warmth towards his people. By telling the reader
that the statue’s facial expression is a ‘sneer’, Shelley suggests that not only that the ruler does not care about his subjects,
but he feels superior to them. Similarly, in My Last Duchess, Browning’s Duke shows a visitor the portrait of his deceased
wife, implying that he had her killed because she did not behave as he wanted. The poem, a dramatic monologue from the
Duke’s perspective, continually shows the Duke’s feelings of superiority to those around him and to his wife. When the
Duke declares, ‘I choose never to stoop’, Browning implies that the Duke feels that he is more intelligent and important
than his wife, and that he has the power and luxury to ‘choose’ not to ‘stoop’ and lower himself to her level, rather than
discuss his feelings of jealousy with his wife. Browning repeats the verb ‘stoop’ in order to emphasise the Duke’s stubborn
nature and feeling of superiority over his wife. In this way, Browning may be criticising patriarchal Victorian society, where
rich men often viewed wives as part of their property rather than as equals. It is clear that in both poems, the writers
present rulers who believe they are far better than those around them. But while Shelley’s ruler becomes a ‘wreck’ in the
sand, Browning does not offer a glimpse of a world without the Duke in power and suggests that he will continue to
behave this way with his next wife.
As well as presenting their feelings of superiority, both poets also present rulers who are arrogant. In Ozymandias, Shelley
illustrates the arrogance of the ruler through the inscription on his statue: ‘king of kings’. Not only did Ozymandias have a
statue erected for himself to show off his power and might, but he also chose to describe himself ‘king’ among kings,
implying that he is better than all other rules. This phrase is also used several times in the Bible to describe Jesus, the son
of God, and through this allusion, Shelley emphasises the total and ironic arrogance of Ozymandias, whose rule ends and
whose power fades. Shelley uses the arrogance of Ozymandias to criticise other leaders, such as King George, who was king
of England at the time Shelley was writing. The speaker in Browning’s poem is also presented as arrogant when Browning
has the Duke describe his ‘nine-hundred year old’ name as a ‘gift’. By choosing the image of a ‘gift’, Browning highlights
that the Duke believes any wife should see their marriage as a huge honour that has been bestowed upon her. Browning
has the Duke take care to include the age of his family name- ‘nine-hundred’ years old- to imply that his wife should have
been particularly grateful to have married into a family with such years of wealth and status attached to their name. By
presenting the Duke’s arrogance and pride in his family name, Browning highlights the inequality between men and
women in the Victorian era, where women were expected to be grateful for marrying wealthy men, and these men could
use their wealth and status to control their wives. Both poets, through the arrogance of Ozymandias and the Duke, criticise
issues in society at the time they were writing.
Both poems explore power, but while Ozymandias has lost his power, the Duke remains powerful. The forms of both
poems allow the writers to suggest power and control: Shelley’s sonnet has a strict rhyme scheme and line length,
mirroring the control that Ozymandias once had. On the other hand, Browning chooses to write a dramatic monologue so
that the reader hears the Duke’s voice, but no other reply. We only hear his perspective. In a similar way to the rhyme
scheme in Ozymandias, Browning uses rhyming couplets to mirror the control the Duke has over his wife. However, Shelley
makes clear that Ozymandias is no longer powerful by describing his statue as a ‘colossal wreck’. This imagery helps the
reader to imagine that the statue has been destroyed and lies in pieces on the sand. Shelley’s use of the adjective ‘colossal’
represents how huge Ozymandias’s power was when he was still alive, but the word ‘wreck’ makes clear to the reader that
the statue- and Ozymandias’ power- has been destroyed. In a way typical for Romantic poets, Shelley was interested in the
power of nature, and the poem Ozymandias illustrates that nature is far more powerful than humanity. Ozymandias may
have been ‘mighty’ when he was alive, but since his death, nature has destroyed his statue and ‘nothing beside remains.’ In
contrast, the Duke is still in power in My Last Duchess. Browning conveys that the Duke maintained his power by writing ‘I
gave commands, then all smiles stopped’. In other words, the Duke is proudly claiming that he had his wife murdered in
order to prevent her from speaking to other men. Browning’s use of the words ‘gave commands’ indicate that the Duke
was not willing to kill his wife himself; he used the power he had to have someone else kill her. By controlling the portrait
of his deceased wife, the Duke has ultimate power over her, which he wanted so much while she was alive. Furthermore,
in the poem, the Duke is speaking to a messenger about a prospective second marriage, implying that not only gained
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