In the Days of the Comet · Chapter
IV: War explained
Willie Leadford, consumed by jealousy and rage after Nettie's betrayal, resolves to kill Nettie and Verrall and then himself.
What happens
Willie Leadford, consumed by jealousy and rage after Nettie's betrayal, resolves to kill Nettie and Verrall and then himself. He wanders the night, firing his revolver into the sky and arguing with the comet. The next morning, he awakens calmer but still determined, and begins planning his journey to Shaphambury to carry out his revenge.
Themes in this chapter
War and Conflict
The chapter's title and the placard reading 'War' set the stage for both personal and global conflict; Willie's internal war mirrors the external threat.
Love and Jealousy
Willie's murderous rage is fueled by his jealousy over Nettie's relationship with Verrall.
Social Class and Inequality
Willie sees Verrall as a symbol of the unjust social order that has disinherited him.
The Natural World and Cosmic Perspective
The comet dominates the sky, and Willie's arguments with it highlight the insignificance of his personal turmoil against the cosmic backdrop.
Characters to notice
- Willie Leadford
Resolves to kill Nettie and Verrall, then himself; wanders in a fever of rage, firing his revolver; awakens calmer but still determined.
- Nettie Stuart
Target of Willie's murderous intent; he imagines her mocking him and with Verrall.
- Edward Verrall
Target of Willie's revenge; represents the privileged class.
- Mrs. Verrall
Willie recalls insulting her, which marked his transformation into a representative of the disinherited.
- Mrs. Leadford
Willie thinks of her with pity and remorse; she brings him breakfast and shows tenderness.
- Parload
Mentioned as a friend from whom Willie has become estranged.
- Mr. Gabbitas
Willie stole sovereigns from him, which adds to his guilt.
Key passages
“I would make my protest and die. I was going to kill Nettie—Nettie who had smiled and promised and given herself to another, and who stood now for all the conceivable delightfulnesses, the lost imaginations of the youthful heart, the unattainable joys in life; and Verrall who stood for all who profited by the incurable injustice of our social order.”
Willie decides to protest by dying, planning to kill Nettie for her betrayal and Verrall as a symbol of social injustice.
Willie's justification for his murder-suicide plan.
“The noise of my shots, the impact upon things, had for the instant been enormous, then it had passed away. I found myself standing with the revolver held up, astonished, my emotions penetrated by something I could not understand.”
After firing his revolver into the night, Willie is struck by how quickly the sound fades, leaving him confused.
Willie's moment of existential pause amid his rage.
“You figure that empty mean street, emptily echoing to my footsteps—no soul awake and audible but me. Then my halt at the placard. And amidst that sleeping stillness, smeared hastily upon the board, a little askew and crumpled, but quite distinct beneath that cool meteoric glare, preposterous and appalling, the measureless evil of that word— 'War!'”
Willie describes a deserted street at night, where he stops at a placard that reads 'War,' a word that seems monstrous under the comet's light.
The word 'War' foreshadows both global conflict and Willie's personal war.
“Dear heart of submission that the world and I had used so ill! It seemed to me that morning that I could never give way to a gust of passion again.”
Willie reflects on his mother's gentle nature and feels remorse, believing his emotional outbursts are over.
Willie's temporary calm after his night of rage.
