Appearance and Honesty: Societal Roles in British Society

The first few paragraphs of the extract detail the importance of appearance in terms of both location and mien. Hannay is in total contrast to Sir Walter Bullivant’s home when he enters; an unbelonging commoner within a home of crafted masculine regency. It is not until Hannay redresses in the appropriate attire that he fits in. In order for Hannay to adapt he must adopt an appropriate appearance; a common trend throughout the novel. Afterwards it is learned that for Walter and Hannay honesty, certainly a human virtue but most certainly an essential virtue of the typical British male, of any social or financial calibre, is a more important factor for fair treatment than superficial, undemocratic qualities like clothing and social class. Hannay even tells Walter twice that he has to tell him the truth as to why he looks so

After all, without Walter’s charity Hannay would struggle to progress with his mission.

After Hannay’s meal Bullivant’s personal study is revealed as very masculine in its untidy and comforting book- and trophy-clad style, rich with coffee, cigars, champagne, port, and anecdotes. Hannay is so admiring of Bullivant’s room that he pledges with himself to create his own. Just as much a man is masculine by his activities and pursuits he is a man by his domain. And it is noteworthy that throughout this extract and throughout the use of Walter’s home that there are no female characters. Buchan-scholar Simon Glassock writes, “Buchan’s main characters in his fiction are predominantly men who remain bachelors or marry only in middle age and who inhabit a world in which adventure and intrigue take precedence over domesticity, and women are welcomed on the basis of their physical and emotional resemblance to public schoolboys” (Glassock 44). The avuncular, older Walter lives in a home that has been totally designed by Walter himself; a man’s man. And since a female