The Manhunt - Simon Armitage

1. Gives a sense of fragmentation.
   1. Distance between wife and husband.

1. The wife is searching for the man she feels she has lost.

1. Word such as "handle hold" refer to her tentative, loving care for her husband.

1. The wife gradually searches for answers and her husband.

   Annotations:

   • "Bind the struts and climb the rungs" suggest a ladder - a GRADUAL search for answers.

Annotations:

• These suggest the woman's husband is damaged goods. He is altered, unknown to her, and yet she still cares for him.

1. Devotion

1. The effect of war on both soldiers and their families.

Annotations:

• Like with a baby, the couple' relationship is altered forever.

Annotations:

• "Exploring" unfamiliar territory. The wife is "searching" for answers, all of this suggests she doesn't 'know' her husband anymore. She searches tentatively, careful of hurting him, unsure of what he has become. Still, she is devoted.

Annotations:

• The damage is not physical, it is mental. Scarring is permanent. A mine is dangerous, unpredictable, and may explode at anytime. It poses a threat, and the wife is cautious of it.

Annotations:

• The wife's search ends fruitlessly. She has failed to "find" her husband. Whilst physically altered, her husband's physical scarring, she finds, is not the source of their problems. Her husband is a changed man - he has changed not only mentally but physically.

Annotations:

• The wife's "search" is thorough yet gentle. She still cares about him despite his injuries - the devotion of her love.