CONTENT

The poem is based around a documentary by Simon Armitage who was

finding out more about post-traumatic stress it was called ‘The

forgotten heroes’.

The poem The Manhunt is based around a soldier who has sustained some

serious injuries at war. The poem is written from the perspective of his

wife who is trying to understand the mental and physical effects of

what has happened – ‘then I widened the search ,traced the scarring

back to its source’

It is based around the idea that soldiers can get post-traumatic stress

disorder (PTSD).

The soldier has been shot and the bullet has left a trail his wife is trying to

follow the trail to find the problem which is his mind he is ready to

‘explode’

But the soldier is trying to hide his mental injuries.as a soldier he is

supposed to be seen as strong and he doesn’t want to come across as

weak.

LANGUAGE

Use of words like “trace” and “explore” in the context of the narrator’s

husband implies that she is no longer familiar with him.

The poet uses a lot of words like “mind” and “attend”. These are related to

medical attention and therefore suggests that the wife is attempting to

mentally heal her husband.

The title puns on the idea of the 'manhunt', meaning literally a hunt to

capture a man, often a criminal. Here the wife's search is for the

husband she knew so well but who seems lost to her, metaphorically,

after his experiences at war.

IMAGERY

The poet uses a series of metaphors that are written in single lines: 'The

blown hinge of his lower jaw'; 'And climb the rungs of his broken ribs'.

But the end of the poem is different in that 'a sweating, unexploded

mine' is really an image in his memory. Going through his physical

injuries she begins to understand him but it is only when she explores

the fear in his mind that, 'Then, and only then, did I come close.' It is

metaphors used in mostly single poetic lines that the poet uses to

describe how the wife becomes so close to her husband.

The images it creates in my mind is a man who has been injured at war and

is scarred physically and mentally his wife the poet is trying to find the

problem which is buried deep in his mind but first she has to follow the

path that has been left.

STRUCTURE

The poem is made up of 13 couplets, many of which do not rhyme.

This makes the poem seem fragmented, similar to the mental

state of the injured soldier.

The poem describes the phases of a wife's search for answers

from her injured husband who has recently returned from a war

zone. The poem ends when the search is brought to a close.

MEANING/MESSAGE

The manhunt is about the patience and care of love. The wife in the poem is

methodical and thorough in her search, exploring her husband's injured

body with love and care.

The poem also explores the effects of war on those in the armed services.

The man has a “grazed heart” , whether this is literal or metaphorical is not

clear.

The image of the metal bullet still inside him as a "foetus" suggests that,

like having a baby, the couple's relationship will be forever changed by

what he has gone through.