In this essay I will be exploring how power is portrayed in two poems,War photographer-Carol Ann Duffy and Remains-Simon Armitage . the main point in the poem Remains is guilt which  is shown through the speaker who is reminiscing about how he killed a man on the streets this has repercussions that i will analyse in this essay . similarly in the poem war photographer we can see the point of guilt through the photographer who takes pictures of people in war which later on makes him understand the effects of war. power can be seen in different ways thought each poem.

In the poem  Remains there is power which  is shown through fear. This is shown when the speaker says ” He’s here in my head when I close my eyes” ,this shows the power of fear because the officer who killed the man still thinks about the situation. The phrase in my head shows that the soldier is constantly reminded about the situation, it could also mean that the solider is being haunted by the innocent man’s  soul which is tormenting his mind. the words when I close my eyes  shows that the solider is even haunted by the killing when he is sleeping showing that the killing had an everlasting effect on him.The power of fear makes the guard into a shell of an human being. The quote gives us an image of a man who is slowly becoming crazy always thinking about the same thing making less and sane.

However in war photographer the power of memory is shown through the quote “He remembers the cries of this man’s wife”. this shows the power of memory because the photographer is reminiscing about the cries of the woman as she cried about the death of someone close to her. The phrase “he remembers” shows that the man had a quick reminisance about the situation causing him to change his view. also the word “cries” shoes that the wife was going through pain and sorrow which could have mental effects. The quote gives an image of a woman who  is possibly watching a killing  being part of a killing, this makes us think about how the job of being a war photographer is a dangerous job and comes with repercussions.

In remains there is also the power of authority which we can see through the quote ” probably armed possibly not”. this shows that solider was second guessing about the man and didn’t care about if the man was armed or not. By second guessing himself the guard shows us a crack into his persona making us feel that he wasn’t trained for that kinds of quick thinking situations. This shows that the guard was abusing his power of authority. This could represent how the people do not think a situation well and just do what ever they want.

The poem war photographer also have the power of guilt. We can see this when the speaker says”solutions slop in trays beneath his hands,which did not tremble then though seem to now”. the phrase ” did not tremble now though seem to now” shows us that the war photographer was finally realising what  he had been witnessing.The words “solutions slop in trays beneath his hands” shows that the photographer was going through trauma and is showing it physically . The quote gives us a strong image of the photographer standing in a dark room with a picture in his hand shaking at the site of the war torn area in his hands. I think that Carol Ann Duffy wrote this to show us how the struggle of war is even to the people who seem normalised to it.

 similarly we can see the in power of memory in remains. In the whole poem of remains there is a lasting effect of memory and guilt. we can see the power of guilt when Simon Armitage writes “pain itself the image of agony”. we know that this power of memory because we know from the quote that the killing itself was brutal then gives the fact it would give the lasting effect on the murderer. The quote gives us a image of  some sort of being that brings paint those it bestows it to. The quote could also mean that every time he thinks over the killing it brings him mental pain.

we can see the power of religion in war photographer. we can see this when Carol Ann Duffy writes “he a priest preparing to intone a mass” this gives us an image of the photographer holding pictures of the wars ready show everyone the massacre and blood  that is shed.This goes well with the quote because in the catholic religion a priest separates the body and blood in communion, the quote compares the photographer to a priest who is ready to show the world the truth behind war. I think that Carol Ann Duffy used religion in the poem because religion sometimes in war religion is the base of the conflict. we can also see the power of death  when we read “all flesh is glass”. this gives us an image of dead bodies lying around a worn torn area, which have been left there decay making them slowly becoming one with the soil and ground.the quote could also give us an image of the dead bodies on the ground, and because the wars have been going on for long the people of the city or country don’t bat and eye to the situation around them.

In conclusion  we can see that Both poems show power in their own way. The main point in photographer  is the fact that the war is starting to become normal and the photographer is slowly starting to realise that everything that is going on around him is having an effect on him showing him the repercussions of being a war photographer. However the main points in Remains is the point of the guard who is having mental effects which start  to make him lean towards drinking and drugs to help him forget the situation.