The Manhunt and Nettles Comparison

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The Manhunt + Nettles War is a destructive force that can be seen as a catalyst for a broken relationship, and this idea is shown in two poems: The Manhunt and Nettles. Whilst both have a literal meaning of remedying and preventing physical pain, both poems show that war is a symbol for destruction for relationships. The Manhunt, as the title suggests, is a definite poem about a desperate search for a man, a man who is being sought after by his wife, Laura in an attempt to save the conditional relationship they have through examining his physical and mental pain seen through a series of metaphors. The poet, Armitage is sending a message to the readers: are efforts to save a relationship futile? Correspondingly, through a conceit in its title, Nettles is a poem about a boy who has fallen into a nettle bed and seeks comfort from his father. Out of anger, the father destroys the nettles only to discover they grow back again. Through this conceit, Scannell is able to demonstrate that saving another human from pain is futile. In doing so, the poet makes the readers ask: do we think of inevitability in our actions and also, how much pain we can control. We see fragmentation in their respective relationships through the structure. The Manhunt is written in couplets which suggest a relationship between two people. However, there is little rhyme in these couplets which shows us that there isn’t harmony in their relationship. Perhaps the war in which Eddie was in has made his mind focus on the destruction of war to the extent that he can’t think of his relationship. After all, he suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Maybe he has become so fragile due to war; the wall he has built around him only distances him from loved ones. This is why we sense a conditional relationship – the repetition of the word “after” in the first couplet gives the story importance because
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