"The Man He Killed"

Thomas Hardy's work "The Man He Killed" is one that engages the reader and causes the reader to think about what its words mean. This poem involves the thoughts of a soldier who had enlisted in the army and killed another man. Thomas Hardy's words allows the reader to experience the same feeling as this soldier was having. Instead of looking at war from far away, or in other words just the idea that two countries are fighting with one another, Hardy looks at the actual people that are being affected and killed. He questions the legitimacy of war by examining two men and questioning why one dies but not the other when they are both essentially equal. At the beginning of the poem, Hardy describes what the relationship between the two men would have been if they were not at war against one another. He says that if they had met at an inn, "We should have set us down to wet". This means that they would have sat down at a bar together and had a good time together, instead of being enemies. Then, later he says, "And staring face to face, I shot him as he at me." The line in which he says they both stared at each other suggests that these two men might have some sort of connection. As it turns out these men are in very similar situations. But, because they are at war and enemies just because their respective countries are fighting, they must fire at each other even though they personally do not have anything against each other. The next stanza shows how the killer tries to justify what he has done because on the inside he feels guilty. He says "I shot him dead because-", but then he does not finish the sentence. This is because he has no legitimate reason to kill this man. He goes on and tries to convince himself that this man was his "foe". Of course this is no reason to kill a man because they have never even met. There is no way he can be his foe, other than the fact that he belongs to a different country. This is incredible poetry by Hardy because he captures the feeling of guilt in al humans. Anyone would feel guilty after killing a man so they must justify their action with something. In the next stanza Hardy compares the two man and it is clear that they are both in similar situations. They were both poor and probably hard working men because they were both out of work. The other man had just sold his traps to make a little money. This just strengthens the fact that neither man deserves to die in war. Here are these two hard working poor men that get sent off to war. One of them lives and the other dies at war. The last stanza questions the curiousness of war. He says "You shoot a fellow down you'd treat, if met where any bar is." He means that in war people shoot each other that under other circumstances outside of war might sit down at a bar together and befriend one another. In other words, it is not the two men that have anything against each other, but war puts these men in a situation where they have no choice but to kill one another. This work by Thomas Hardy really caused me to think about the irrationality of war and how so many people lose their lives for illegitimate reasons. He is able to accomplish this feeling just by the words and punctuation that he has evidently mastered.