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Times of war and peace: Sequels and phobias in The Return of the Soldier of Rebecca West.
Rebecca West (1892-1983) was a prolific writer who tried every literary genre;
journalism, literary critique, the short story and the novel. Her first novel The Return of
the Soldier published in 1918 spans half a century of creative output culminated in 1966
with her last novel The Birds Fall Down. However, all her narrative is easily identifiable
because of her unmistakable style, the structure of her novels, the topics she chooses and
the coherence of her ideas about mankind and society. Subsequently, all her novels are
psychological, historical and social documents depicting human behavior in a precise
historical and social context. West synthesizes what she observes rooting her ideas in
British literary tradition. Her keen critical eye is both penetrating and enlightening, for
example, when in The Return of the Soldier, Margaret Grey appears poorly dressed
daring to invade the Baldry mansion with her mud covered boots, while Jenny, the
narrator, expresses crude feelings of resentment towards Margaret and her social group.
The latter is represented: ‘... as the rich hate the poor, as insect things that will struggle
out of the crannies which are their decent home, and introduce ugliness to the light of
day’ (West, 1918, rpt.1984: 32)1.
West’s literary reputation was revived in the 1980s with the disintegration of
Yugoslavia. Her Black Lamb and Grey Falcon; A Journey through Yugoslavia (1941)
brought her wide critical attention because this novel was the last of her efforts to
understand the pre-war situation. Furthermore, it was central to West’s next book, The
Meaning of Treason (1947), where she concentrated on the psychological characteristics
of traitors and she wondered what caused these people to do what they did—for West,
war fosters deception and betrayal. The final example of West’s interest in treason is her
novel The Birds Fall Down (1966) which concludes with the deaths of both the traitor
and the friend he betrayed and in The Return of the Soldier, a study of the sequels of war
in human mind, the protagonist is betrayed by his family. In the aforementioned novel,
West employs what at the time was an original device, amnesia from war trauma or
‘shell shock’ as well as an unusual perspective on war—that of those who waited at
home. West tries to explore the reactions of three women to a returning soldier who,
though married, remembers only an earlier love for another woman.
In spite of its obvious literary quality, The Return of the Soldier proved to be a
novel severely punished by critics.
Robert Ross’ is introduced to characters with varying outlooks on the world, based on their own social and economic backgrounds. The soldiers around Robert Ross differ greatly,...
“This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war...”
about the war and his lack of place in his old society. The war becomes
O’Brien, Tim. “How To Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2003. p. 420-429.
his country. This is what makes these two books stand out from other war books. Both
of her own life as well as a critical study of characters and events during the
There is a major change in the men in this novel. At first, they are excited to join the army in order to help their country. After they see the truth about war, they learn very important assets of life such as death, destruction, and suffering. These emotions are learned in places like training camp, battles, and hospitals. All the men, dead or alive, obtained knowledge on how to deal with death, which is very important to one’s life.
A Comparison of the Techniques Employed in Portraying the Horror of War in Regeneration and Journey's End
PTSD is a disorder in which a person can have difficulty recovering after a terrifying experience such as war. Flashbacks, mood swings, and anxiety can be some occurring symptoms in veterans with PTSD. Even though individuals can respond or think differently about the novel, The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson is an accurate representation of real world events because of the PTSD Hayley’s father has, the family hardships that are tied with Andy’s PTSD, and the coping strategies used to deal with it.
War has a definite effect on the mentality of a soldier, so much so that many result in insanity during or after the leave of combat. Timothy Findley’s The Wars, portrays the “stupidity, futility and the horror of the terrible losses of the First World War, describing war as an image of the worst that can be within a man” (Anne Nothof Interview). Findley portrays mental aspects as well as physical, that lead to Robert Ross’ demises, specifically, the conditions of war, overall aspect of war taking someone’s life and the feeling of loneliness and silence.
It is evident that the occurrence of war throughout history has made a lasting impression on soldiers and civilians alike. This has been expressed over the years through different works of literature. The cost of war to the individual is illustrated in “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, and “The Shawl” by Cynthia Ozick because each story shows some element of mental, emotional, and physical toll.
"Looking back now across fifteen years, I could see with great clarity the fear I had lived in, which must mean that in the interval I had succeeded in a very important undertaking: I must have made my escape from it" ( Knowles 5). In this novel A Separate Peace, using these words, John Knowles reveals the fear that haunts the students at Devon and when they proceeded with all their training for the war they mature into adults.
"A picture is worth a thousand words," we say. From the eyes and mind of the archivist studying the pictures of Robert Ross' experience with war, they are worth a lot more. The photographs in the epilogue of Timothy Findley's "The Wars" play an important role in Findley establishing both a trust with the reader, and a sense of realism to his war story. This satisfies the need for realism in his tale. The result of this image that is brought forth through the medium of the photograph, is that we are forced to see the "before" and "after" of Roberts "experience" and figure out our way through what is deposited in between: the cause and effect.
Kich, Martin. "The Wars." Cyclopedia Of Literary Characters, Revised Third Edition (1998): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
"Reader Responses to Soldier's Home." Literature and Composition. 10 Feb.,2003. David Toth. 14 Feb., 2003. .