Disenchantment · Chapter
VII: “Can’t Believe a Word” explained
The chapter explores the pervasive distrust of official narratives and the press among soldiers, stemming from propaganda, censorship, and the disconnect between war correspondents' accounts and the grim reality of trench warfare.
What happens
The chapter explores the pervasive distrust of official narratives and the press among soldiers, stemming from propaganda, censorship, and the disconnect between war correspondents' accounts and the grim reality of trench warfare. It recounts the evolution of the British military's relationship with war correspondents, the suppression of any positive depiction of Germans, and the infamous 'corpse factory' myth, culminating in the soldiers' bitter maxim: 'Can't believe a word you read.'
Themes in this chapter
Propaganda and Deception
The chapter extensively critiques wartime propaganda, including the 'corpse factory' myth and the suppression of positive depictions of Germans, showing how the press and military manipulated information.
Disillusionment and Disenchantment
Soldiers' growing distrust of the press and official narratives leads to a pervasive disillusionment, encapsulated in the catchphrase 'Can’t believe a word you read.'
Critique of Authority and Institutions
The chapter criticizes the military hierarchy, censorship rules, and the cozy relationship between war correspondents and the Staff, which shielded failures from public scrutiny.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator reflects on the disillusionment of soldiers and the role of war correspondents, recounting personal observations of the 'corpse factory' site at Bellicourt.
- Sir Douglas Haig
Mentioned as the commander who made a speech of thanks to war correspondents on the bridge at Cologne after the Armistice, and whose Chief of Intelligence improved press relations.
- Australian Sergeant
An unnamed Australian sergeant who, while exploring the tunnel at Bellicourt, utters the line 'Can’t believe a word you read, sir, can you?' after finding no evidence of the 'corpse factory'.
- Hamlet
Referenced in a rhetorical question about judging Germany: 'as Hamlet asks his injudicious mother, on that fair mountain cease to feed and batten on this moor?'
- Poppo
Mentioned in the context of patriotic pundits claiming that 'Poppo did not half know his Thucydides' during the war.
- Mommsen
Referenced as a historian whose Roman history was deemed 'all wrong' by some patriotic pundits during the war.
Key passages
“Can’t believe a word you read, sir, can you?”
You cannot trust anything you read in the newspapers.
Uttered by an Australian sergeant after inspecting the supposed 'corpse factory' site, this becomes the chapter's central motto reflecting soldiers' disillusionment with propaganda.
“The Press had lied again. The propagandist myth about Germans had cracked up once more.”
The newspapers had once more deceived the public, and the propaganda stories about German atrocities had been proven false.
The narrator reflects on the sergeant's realization that the 'corpse factory' story was a fabrication, reinforcing the theme of deception.
“One of the first rules of field censorship was that from war correspondents 'there must be no criticism of authority or command'; how could they disobey that?”
A fundamental censorship rule forbade war correspondents from criticizing military leadership, making it impossible for them to report honestly on failures.
The narrator explains why correspondents, despite being trusted, could not expose the shortcomings of the Staff.
“The most bloody defeat in the history of Britain, a very world’s wonder of valour frustrated by feckless misuse, of regimental glory and Staff shame, might occur on the Ancre on July 1, 1916, and our Press come out bland and copious and graphic, with nothing to show that we had not had quite a good day—a victory really.”
The catastrophic defeat on the first day of the Somme was reported by the press as if it were a successful battle, completely misrepresenting the reality of the massacre.
This passage illustrates how the press's false reporting of the Battle of the Somme deepened soldiers' distrust and cynicism.
