My Four Weeks in France · Chapter
VII: I Start Home, with a Stopover at London explained
The narrator details the bureaucratic ordeal of leaving France and traveling to London, including multiple visa checks, interrogations, and a tense Channel crossing.
What happens
The narrator details the bureaucratic ordeal of leaving France and traveling to London, including multiple visa checks, interrogations, and a tense Channel crossing. In London, he registers with the police, encounters a British colonel, and navigates the city's customs and telephones before preparing to sail home.
Themes in this chapter
Bureaucratic Absurdity
The narrator endures a comically complex series of visa stamps, conflicting instructions, and redundant interrogations from French, British, and American officials.
Wartime Inconvenience and Danger
Travel is hampered by early departures, long waits, submarine fears, and strict controls; a French girl is detained due to her mother's letter about submarine warfare.
Culture Clash and Humor
The narrator's confusion with English telephones, driving on the left, and the colonel's casual conversation highlight cultural differences.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The narrator recounts his journey from Paris to London, dealing with officials and registering with police.
- Mr. O’Flaherty
American correspondent met at the British front; helps the narrator with registration in London.
- A British colonel
Speaks to the narrator on the Channel boat, shares a drink, and discusses the war.
- Monsieur le Préfet
Paris police official who questions the narrator about his background and stamps his passport.
- The Officer
Multiple officers appear: British Control officer, customs officials, and the 'Authorities du Exit' who interrogate the narrator.
Key passages
“We settled the war all over again, and retired, the colonel politely expressing the hope that we would meet for breakfast. The hope was not realized.”
The narrator and the colonel discussed the war at length, then parted; they did not meet again for breakfast.
Illustrates the fleeting camaraderie of wartime travel.
“I got by the first six easily. No. 7 read both sides of the passport and then asked by whom I was employed. I told him. 'Where are your credentials?' he demanded.”
The narrator passed six exit officials without issue, but the seventh demanded proof of employment despite all prior approvals.
Highlights the absurd redundancy of wartime bureaucracy.
“The young lady of our quartet, a French girl, was getting hers, and there was nothing for me to do but listen. She had a letter from her mother to a friend in England. The mother, it seems, had expected to come along, but had decided to wait three weeks, 'till the submarine warfare is over.'”
A French girl was detained because her mother's letter mentioned waiting for submarine warfare to end, causing suspicion.
Shows how casual remarks could lead to serious consequences during wartime.