The Man He Killed By Thomas Hardy

Mankind has fought wars for centuries; over many different types of things like religion, resources, and territorial growth. “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy, can undoubtedly be considered an anti-war poem. The narration takes the reader through the remorse the soldier feels as he considers the weight of his actions. The simple, straightforward nature of the poem seemingly begs the reader to understand it. However, there are many details in the lines that warrant a second reading. There are several techniques the author uses to portray the irrational bloodshed of war, and the guilt one soldier experiences because of it. A few among them are his use of particular language, comparisons between the soldiers, and a minute amount of violence.
The poet, however, chose his words very carefully, and this is one of the reasons the poem is so powerful. Although, the narrator never specifically says he feels any guilt or remorse, the hyphens where his speech trails off indicate he is trying to justify himself. When the soldier fails to find other reasons, he slowly grasps the magnitude of his error. The use of the word “because” in quick succession implies that he is trying to convince himself that what he did was right. So through a few carefully selected words, and a lack of words, the author accurately exposes the gruesome truths of war. Also, the narrator is characterized as an average, middle-class person. This conveys the idea that war causes innocent, normal people to fight and kill people that otherwise could be great
Strangely, “The Man He Killed” has very little violence at all. The extent of the poem’s bloodshed is when he says he killed the man. There are no long-winded descriptions trying to make war seem horrifying, or perhaps even trying to glorify it. Actually, the lack of those types of descriptions is what makes the poem so powerful. The soldier kills a man, and then tries to rationalize his behavior. As he struggles for excuses, he seems to accept that even he does not know why he shot the man. So it the simplicity, the lack of a detailed narration, that makes the reader believe the soldier is