This novella was published in and is set at the time of the First World War. It depicts the culture of the Big House before its collapse as a result of the war and the Rising. The occupants of the Big House are sheltered from the reality of the world outside. They continue to live an ordered and leisurely life, which is only occasionally interrupted by distasteful reports of war injuries. As more and more local men enlist in the forces and many are killed or maimed, the war slowly becomes a reality for the family.
When Alec enlists, this brings the war right into their home, and they are forced to acknowledge its existence. Before he joined the British forces, Jerry had been involved in Republican activities in the local area, and this was his main reason for joining.
He planned to bring back knowledge of fighting methods to use to good effect in fighting for a free Ireland. The location of the novel changes. It is now set in France in the heat of battle. Alec Moore is an only child from an Anglo-Irish family in Wicklow. The boy from the Big House befriends Jerry Crowe, a local boy from a working-class background, and a close friendship develops between them.
As they grow older and the war intensifies, both men enlist in the British Forces for very different reasons and are sent to fight in France. Their friendship continues under the disapproving eye of Major Glendinning who forbids his officers to associate with junior soldiers.
Jerry deserts the army temporarily to search for his father who had gone missing on the battlefield. On his return, he is sentenced to death as an example to other soldiers who may be considering desertion. Alec, as an officer, is ordered to instruct the firing squad or face the same fate himself for refusing to obey orders. The men exchange farewells and to avoid prolonging the agony, Alec kills Jerry in his room. He is sentenced to death for defying authority and the novel ends with Alec writing while calmly awaiting death.
Love versus Hatred 2. Friendship Relationships 3. Jennifer Johnston explores the theme of love versus hatred in an interesting way. Alec Moore must experience a horrific test of love in the course of the novel. He narrates his tragic tale of a loveless childhood, which left him emotionally scarred.
His mother is cruel, manipulative and full of hatred for her husband whom she regards as weak. From childhood, Alec was goaded by his beautiful mother, who is portrayed as being without nurturing or loving instincts.
Her actions, which are swift and dismissive, suggest her passionless nature. This rather ironic revelation indicates her unloving attitude towards her son. It appears as though she loves the perfection of the swans, their separateness from her and their uncomplicated, instinctive existence. For her, human relationships are meaningless unless she can gain some kind of power or victory from such intimacy.
She uses her allure, the pretence of love, to secure what she desires while underneath she seethes with rage. I have already said that. When she discovers the friendship between Alec and Jerry Crowe she moves swiftly to destroy it. Not only is she averse to the mixing of the classes but she is also suspicious and aggrieved at the bond which exists between the boys.
Her refusal to allow Alec to go away to school is not the result of her grief at their separation but because she would be left alone with a husband she detests. She uses her son in a most despicable way, as a buffer between herself and her husband.
She brings her son to Europe not for the love of learning but as a means of dealing with his unsuitable friendship with Jerry. Friendship Alec feels real affection for his father. He realises that his mother abuses his father but he is helpless to prevent it. He misjudges Alicia, only realising his mistake when it is too late to rectify it. It is interesting to note that Mr Moore deteriorates in the absence of his son.
The friendship which develops between Alec and Jerry is the only real love and affection which Alec experiences. However, he shares the same sad home life as Alec.
Both Alec and Jerry are capable horsemen. They plan to somehow overcome their class barriers to breed and train horses together. War The images of hatred in the novel revolve around references to the First World War and the Irish Nationalist cause.
From the earliest moments in the novel, the impending war in Europe forms the backdrop to the feuding husband and wife. It is possible to argue that the hatred between Alicia and Frederick Moore is used as a compressed image of the hatred between the allied and enemy forces in the war. The inferences to madness in the novel serve the same moral function as the images of war.
They make the reader understand that love is the essential element to the survival of the world because without it there is only chaos, cruelty and hatred. Their parting scene in the novel, though it seems superficial, is actually heart-rending. Both Jerry and Alec ridicule their mothers for their hypocritical show of grief as they go to war.
The description of the war in the novel evokes a sense of horror in the reader. The trenches which Alec describes are a physical representation for the reader of humankind without the redemptive power of love. It is like descending into the hell which he describes so well in the course of the novel. Alec embraces the friendship of Jerry, caring for his welfare and trying to buffer some of the abuse hurled at him by the officers. It seems that Alec and Jerry should become insensitive to feeling and the little kindnesses which make life bearable.
Yet despite this ultimatum, Alec continues to befriend Jerry and their smallest gestures of help to each other indicate the pointlessness of the war which rages around them.
This murder illustrates the breakdown of the inherent moral code in humanity. After the murder, Glendinning never once shows remorse or disgust for his act. Crowe goes to the front again tomorrow with the rest of his squalid friends. Friendship The reunion between Jerry and Alec near the end of the novel is very moving. This poignancy is more effective because the reader of the novel suspects that the reunion will be short-lived:.
He threw an arm across my shoulders and we lay in silence. My warmth was spreading through him, but the hand that clasped the back of my neck was still cold as a stone fresh from the sea. When Jerry is found he is put into the detention camp where Alec visits him to carry out the greatest test to their friendship and love.
They reminisce about their youthful dreams and ambitions. Jerry confesses for the last time that he loves his country above his king. It seems an odd thing to say before death but it is important to remember its symbolic significance. For Jerry, his country encompasses more than the nationalist cause, more than the land itself; it reflects his belief about the brutality of war, the uselessness of it.
This novel fits into the category of social realism. It is a story which is extremely true to life. Johnston does not over-exaggerate her plot or stretch it beyond the bounds of credibility. It is a novel based firmly in an actual time and place in history. Her main characters belong to clearly defined social backgrounds, the Anglo Irish gentry and the Catholic underclass of Ireland in the early s.
Both men are accurately drawn as they each possess certain qualities of their respective backgrounds. The bigotries which attempt to divide them both at home and on the battlefield are all too real in the novel. It is, therefore, a book rooted in reality.
In many respects, the novel takes on the form of an autobiography. It could also be said to be a confessional work. It begins with an officer alone in his room, about to face death by firing squad and he is writing his last thoughts. Therefore, the novel is told in flashback.
The novel is presented strictly in chronological order with only a few slight references to the past, as Jerry and Alec at times of depression or crisis look back longingly to the good times they spent together in the Irish countryside. It is divided into two distinct settings: Ireland and France. It is a simply structured but completely effective novel with a plot that is uncomplicated and direct. She does not waste words on rambling descriptions nor does she overuse images for exaggerated effect.
This makes her images all the more memorable when she does use them. Clarity is her main strength. She describes her characters and the action in the plot in a concise condensed manner. The rushes bowed to her as a little rippling wind stirred through them. A thousand green pikemen bowing. Which conflict is worse? Tue, May 6, , Updated: Tue, May 6, , Peter Crawley.
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