Memoirs of an Infantry Officer · Chapter
VI explained
Sherston receives a telegram ordering him to report immediately to Clitherland.
What happens
Sherston receives a telegram ordering him to report immediately to Clitherland. He travels to Liverpool, feeling dejected and isolated. Upon arrival, he meets with Major Macartney, who tries to persuade him to drop his protest. Sherston refuses, and the Major, unable to arrest him, sends him to the Exchange Hotel to await further instructions.
Themes in this chapter
Disillusionment with Authority
Sherston's protest and his confrontation with Major Macartney highlight his growing disillusionment with the military command and the war effort.
Psychological Strain and Survival
Sherston's mental state is depicted as fragile, with feelings of vertigo, dejection, and being a 'harassed automaton' as he faces the consequences of his actions.
Anti-War Protest and Conscience
The chapter centers on Sherston's act of protest and his internal struggle as he remains steadfast in his conviction despite pressure from the military.
Characters to notice
- 2nd Lt. Sherston
Travels to Clitherland after receiving the 'Report immediately' telegram, feeling like a 'harassed automaton' and dreading the confrontation.
- Aunt Evelyn
Sees Sherston off, giving him a bundle of white pigeons' feathers for pipe-cleaners and reminding him about his golf clubs.
- Major Macartney
Acting-Colonel at Clitherland, visibly embarrassed and kind, tries to persuade Sherston to reconsider his protest and refuses to put him under arrest.
- Thornton Tyrrell
Sherston hopes to talk with him in London but finds he is out of town.
- Rousseau
Sherston buys a small red volume of 'The Morals of Rousseau' to distract himself, but finds no help in it.
Key passages
“I am beginning to feel that a man can write too much about his own feelings, even when 'what he felt like' is the nucleus of his narrative.”
Sherston acknowledges that he may be overanalyzing his own emotions, even though his personal experience is central to the story.
Sherston reflects on the nature of his own narrative.
“To put it plainly, I felt like nothing on earth while I was being bumped and jolted out to the Camp in a ramshackle taxi.”
Sherston felt utterly miserable and insignificant during the uncomfortable taxi ride to the camp.
Describes Sherston's low point on the journey.
“It was as though I'd come skulking back to see how much damage had been caused by that egregious projectile, my protest.”
He felt like he was sneaking back to see the fallout from his protest, which he now sees as a reckless act.
Sherston's view of his own protest as a destructive force.
“To have accepted it would have been a sign of surrender.”
Accepting the Major's cigar would have meant he was giving up his protest.
Sherston's refusal of the cigar as a symbolic act of defiance.
“I'd rather die than do such a thing!”
Major Macartney exclaims that he would rather die than put Sherston under arrest.
The Major's emotional response to Sherston's request to be arrested.
