Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • The Man He Killed

    Uploaded by

    Afridi Shaid
    470 views2 pages
    The poem "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy focuses on the senselessness of war. It is narrated by a soldier who has killed another man on the opposing side. The soldier reflects that if they had met outside of war, they may have been friends, sharing drinks at a pub. However, as enemies on the battlefield, one had to kill the other. The soldier struggles to justify his actions, repeating that he killed the man because he was his enemy. He understands that the other soldier likely joined the army for lack of work, as he himself did. The poem ends reinforcing that war is strange, as it forces men who otherwise may be friends to kill each other.

    Original Description:

    Summary and Analysis of the poem "THE MAN HE KILLED" written by Thomas Hardy

    Original Title

    THE MAN HE KILLED

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    The poem "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy focuses on the senselessness of war. It is narrated by a soldier who has killed another man on the opposing side. The soldier reflects that if they had met outside of war, they may have been friends, sharing drinks at a pub. However, as enemies on the battlefield, one had to kill the other. The soldier struggles to justify his actions, repeating that he killed the man because he was his enemy. He understands that the other soldier likely joined the army for lack of work, as he himself did. The poem ends reinforcing that war is strange, as it forces men who otherwise may be friends to kill each other.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    470 views2 pages

    The Man He Killed

    Uploaded by

    Afridi Shaid
    The poem "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy focuses on the senselessness of war. It is narrated by a soldier who has killed another man on the opposing side. The soldier reflects that if they had met outside of war, they may have been friends, sharing drinks at a pub. However, as enemies on the battlefield, one had to kill the other. The soldier struggles to justify his actions, repeating that he killed the man because he was his enemy. He understands that the other soldier likely joined the army for lack of work, as he himself did. The poem ends reinforcing that war is strange, as it forces men who otherwise may be friends to kill each other.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    The Man He Killed

    Summary and Analysis


    ThomasHardy
    ThomasHardy'spoem'TheManHeKilled'focusesonthesenselessnessandfutilityofwar,
    whereamanhaskilledanotherquitesimplybecausetheywerefightingonopposingsidesina
    war.Writteninthefirstpersonfromthestandpointofoneofthesoldiers,thefirststanza
    expressestheideathatthetwomenwhofoughtwould,hadtheyinothercircumstancesmet
    eachotheroutsideapub,haveenjoyedafewdrinks('rightmanyanipperkin')together.Yetit
    becomesclearinthesecondstanzathattheyinfactmetasfootsoldiersonopposingsidesina
    battle,andbeingconfrontedwitheachother,onehadtodie.Thetwomenshotateachother,
    andthenarrator'sshotfatallyinjuredtheotherman.Thewriterfaltersattheendoftheopening
    lineofthethirdstanzaashetriestojustifieshisaction.Repeatingtheword'because',hestates
    thathehadtokilltheothersoldiersincehewashisenemy.Thethirdlineofthisstanzafeatures
    morerepetition,thistimeoftheword'foe'(enemy)theuseofphrasessuchas'Justso'and'of
    course'suggestthatthenarratoristryingtoconvincehimselfthathisactionwasinevitable.The
    stanza,however,endswiththeword'although',tellingusthatthewriterisnotinfactateasewith
    theideathathehaskilledhisenemy.Usingenjambmenttolinktothefourthstanza,thenarrator
    reflectsonthefactthatthesoldierhekilledprobablydecidedtojointhearmy('listisshortfor
    enlist)becausehehadnoworkandhadsoldhisbelongings.Thenarratorunderstandsthis,
    havingbeeninasimilarsituationhimselfandhavingfoundhimselfwithnoalternativebuttojoin
    thearmy.Itwasnotapositivedecision,butalastresortwhentherewerenootheroptions.The
    finalstanzareiteratesthemainthemeofthepoem,thatwarisastrangephenomenonbecause
    asoldierfindshimselfforcedtokillamanthathewouldotherwisehaveboughtadrinkfororlent
    moneyto,hadtheymetintimesofpeace.'Halfacrown'istheoldBritishmoney,worthabout
    twelveandahalfpenceintoday'scurrency.In1902thatwouldofcoursehavehadconsiderably
    morevaluethanitdoesjustoveronehundredyearslater.Thepoemiswrittenina
    conversationaltone,withspeechmarksincluded,makingusfeelthatthesoldierisaddressing
    uspersonallyinaninformalway,andpleadingwithustounderstandhisactioninkillinghis
    enemy.Thelanguageisverystraightforwardandeasytocomprehendwiththeexceptionoftwo
    orthreewords.Therearefivestanzas,eachoffourlines,allofwhichareinsettoacertain
    degreeotherthanthethirdineachstanza,creatingaregularpatternonthepage.Therhyme
    schemeandrhythmarealsoregularandgivethepoemquiteafastpace.Itiseasytoappreciate
    thispoemandtoidentifywiththesoldierandhisfeelings,sympathizingwithhispredicamentand
    sensingthatheregretshavinghadtokillhisenemy.Weunderstandthatindividualsoldiersdo
    notnecessarilynurturehatredforthosetheyarefightingagainst,butseethemashumanbeings
    incircumstancessimilartotheirown,enlistinginordertoearnmoneyandsupportafamily.But
    whenfacingeachotheratcloserange,therealityofwarkicksinandoneofthemmustkillthe
    other.Thenarratorhereknowsthathecouldeasilyhavebeentheonetodie.Theideathatwar
    isnonsensicalwhenseenatthelevelofordinaryhumanbeingswhoareobligedtocarryout
    ordersisevidentthroughoutthepoem.

    You might also like