The Man He Killed ~Thomas Hardy

"Had he and I but met

By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him and he at me,
And killed him in his place.
"I shot him dead because
Because he was my foe,
Just so my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although
"He thought he'd 'list perhaps,
Off-hand like just as I
Was out of work had sold his traps
No other reason why.
"Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown."
Analysis of "The Man He Killed"
The narrator of Thomas Hardy's "The Man He Killed" is stationed as an infantry
soldier and speaks of an enemy soldier he was forced to kill in defense during a war.
The actual act of the killing isn't really described or detailed. In fact, it only seems to
be mentioned in passing, as if only to make the reader understand the situation. The
narrator is assumed to be a simple and average person, due to his use of common
slang phrases and cut off words, such as "nipperkin" and "'list." He is not a hardened
and robotic soldier either. Rather, he simply joined the army "off-hand-like" and
possibly because of financial situations (Hardy 814).
Instead of metaphors and similes, the poem focuses on a 'what if' type of situation.
The narrator wonders what would have happened if he and his victim had met any
place else besides a battle field. Had they met in a bar, would they have drank
together in companionship? Would the enemy soldier have been the type he would
have easily loaned money to? What sort of man was this person that he killed?
Because he is not an experienced soldier, the narrator finds it difficult to comprehend

the situation. Despite the fact that he knows the obvious reasons for his actions, that
during a war it is a 'kill or be killed' situation, he still tries to find a deeper meaning.
The broken syntax that begins in the third stanza "is an important element of [the
poem's] tone and a guide to the speaker's state of mind" (DiYanni 810). As he attempts
to justify his actions, the narrator hesitates, as if not truly believing that is all there is
to the killing. He seems skeptical that the taking of a life can be justified as easily as
'he was my foe.'

Personal Connection
"The Man He Killed" was specifically chosen by myself because of the topic
presented: war. As a pacifist, I disagree with all wars in theory. Though I am realistic
enough to understand that, at times, conflict will be unavoidable due to certain
circumstances, understanding and accepting are two very separate concepts. I hold on
to the idealistic view that situations can be resolved peacefully so long as all parties
contribute. And, on a more personal level, my opposition also stems from the two
close cousins and a friend who are enlisted in the US Armed Forces, as well as horror
stories told from my grandfather and uncles.
"The Man He Killed" seems to speak of the shock and confusion that afflicts all
victims of war. In my view, it describes my own inability to understand how violence
can be such a common event among the supposed sentient beings of the human race.