Comparative esssay

Intro: Both poems are similar in the form of power. In remains and emigree they are similar due to power of memory. Both poems use the power of memory to show the feeling between the 2 protagonists. They explore the mind to find something very sad or very happy. In this case the first power of memory is a sad moment, a moment of madness from the protagonist in remains. A moment in which the protagonist kills someone due to his authority in the army. In emigree it is a happy memory, a memory which the protagonist remembers to be an even better time that right at this moment wherever it is. She knows about the death and destruction but still finds a way to look past it. Thy are similar because they are both sad moments in which they both had to do something they didn’t want to do.
On the other hand they’re different because of what they represent. In emigree she represents memory and how she feels about her old country and everything that happened before, how her life could have been better, it also can tell us how it could have been worse if she did not move, and the outcomes that could have happened. Then in remains we see guilt and regret in the killing and that he can’t get it put of his head, whether he used drugs or drinking. It shows again how hard it is to make a decision. This decision may have affected his life just like the protagonist in emigree. It doesn’t just affect his personal life but his home life and what people
Think about him outside in the streets, whether it’s hero or villain.

paragraph 1: “He’s here in my head when I close my eyes”. This is showing the power of guilt. He’s guilty at the fact that he killed a man who could not have been a threat. His assumption had caused him not to even think, but now that he has killed him, he cannot even stop thinking about him. “He’s here in my head, and the drink and drugs wont flush him out”. This quote is suggesting that no matter what he does he CANNOT get the man out of his head. We see the power of memory here as he knows there is nothing he can do to get away from his wrong doings.

paragraph 2: “But I am branded with an image of sunlight”. This shows the power of memory and uses the effect of imagery. The power of memory is used with the words branded. Branded means marked. She is branded with her old country and remembers it greatly as sun filled. The use of imagery is used to show us her visual image of her old country. She sees it as bright and beautiful but the reality is that it is not. In the paragraph above they both are similar in the way that they both show the power of memory. Firstly in paragraph 1 memory is shown when the man keeps thinking about the fact he had killed somebody due to his assumption. In addition to this power of memory is used again to show what she thinks of her old country. There is also a contrast to her visual image and the reality.

paragraph 3: The power of memory is used in remains to show that the man he killed isn’t forgotten. “I walk right over it week after week”. This shows us that he cannot stop thinking about the person he killed. His job is a big effect on why he still thinks of him. The fact he has to walk past that specific spot everyday will cause him to never forget. He says he uses drinks and drugs to flush out the memory but it will never leave him.

Paragraph 4: lastly the city has too much power. In emigree the city is over powered. we see this when she says they accuse her of being dark in “their free” city. However they seem to contradict as you can not be thought of as an equal but the city is not everyone’s, it’s a certain persons or people who are more respected.
This could be one of the reasons she left her old country. The fact that she stills see the country as sun filled suggests there were good aspects of her old country too and it was not all inequality and disrespect and disregard for others.

Conclusion: In conclusion the power is used to show us the different views of what the protagonists says about their perspectives. In remains and the emigree they have the similarity of power of memory. They both remember a big moment of their life which changed them. They had both chose one of the most important aspects and remembered them. Both poems also use power of authority. Firstly we see this in emigree when the people who had more power of the protagonist forced her to leave. This could have been due to many other factors such as war and no jobs. They take jobs away so people move out of the country, and they make war so people find it uninhabitable to stay in and leave out of their “own judgement”, even though they’re being forced but not straight to there face.
However both poems have comparisons too. In emigree over powering of the county is used. The country forces out the people they do not want to be there by starting things to make them leave, such as war, no
housing and no transportation. The fact it used to be a sun filled and bright place which is now war torn shows the use of how power of memory is used and how affective it is. On the other hand I’m remains power of guilt and feeling is used. The protagonist has killed somebody and feels guilty now. However he knows he cannot changed what he has done. However again both things are very similar as they both relate to memory.