Firstly, throughout the poem, the narrator emphasises the man’s loss of identity.

Before the
war the man was a ‘footballer’ and a ‘smart lad’, but now he is ‘legless, sewn short at the
elbow’. The narrator also notes that the man’s ‘smiling’ and ‘cheerful’ nature has disappeared,
replaced by a ‘ghastly suit of grey.’ This contrast between the man’s former self and his
current state highlights the loss of identity that he has experienced.
The war poem also explores the impact of societal expectations on identity. The man joined
the army because he ‘liked a blood-smear down his leg,’ and because he wanted to impress
the girls. He was encouraged by his friends and family, who saw it as a noble and honourable
thing to do. However, the man’s experience in the war far from noble or honourable. He was
injured and left to suffer, and now he is ‘shivering in his ghastly suit.’ The poem suggests that
societal pressure and expectations can have a profound impact on a person’s identity, and that
the consequences of this pressure can be devastating.
Another important theme in the poem is the way that the man’s disability has affected his
relationship with others, and this affects his identity. The narrator expresses that the man
‘threw away at his knees,’ and that he now ‘cannot feel the sense of his own body.’ This loss
of physical sensation has caused the man to become isolated and disconnected from the world
around him. Furthermore, he is no longer able to participate in the activities that once brought
him joy, and he is no longer able to connect with others in the same way. The poem suggests
that disability can have a major impact on someone’s relationship with others and it can lead
to feelings of loneliness and isolation which in turn affect identity by removing basic human
interaction.
Finally, it is worth noting that the way that the poem ends on a note of bitter irony; the man is
left alone, watching as ‘girls glanced lovelier as the air grey dim.’ The juxtaposition of the
man’s loneliness with the expressed beauty and vitality of the world around him serves to
emphasise the tragic irony of the situation. The man is left to suffer in silence, while the
world around him continues to move forward. This ending serves to underscore the sense of
loss and isolation that pervades the poem, and it leaves the reader with a powerful sense of
the human cost of war and conflict.