Now It Can Be Told · Chapter
XI explained
The chapter recounts an incident where a soldier, driven by drink and the harsh deprivation of war, attempts to assault a French girl.
What happens
The chapter recounts an incident where a soldier, driven by drink and the harsh deprivation of war, attempts to assault a French girl. He is arrested, identified by the girl, and faces the possibility of execution by court-martial, highlighting the brutal consequences of war-induced desperation.
Themes in this chapter
Psychological Trauma
The soldier's actions are driven by the psychological deprivation of war, as the narrator reflects on the 'starved life' in the salient and the desperate longing for human connection.
Class and Inequality
The soldier, a common man who answered the call for king and country, faces the ultimate punishment while the officer class calmly resumes breakfast, highlighting the disparity in power and consequence.
Characters to notice
- The Colonel
The colonel calmly handles the arrest of the soldier, later stating that the punishment for guilt is death.
- The Boy
The soldier who, after drinking and suffering the horrors of the Ypres salient, attempts to assault a girl and is arrested.
- The French
The French villagers, especially the women, clamor for the soldier's arrest and identification.
Key passages
“There were shrill voices one morning outside the gate of our quarters—women’s voices, excited, angry, passionate.”
One morning, loud, angry women's voices were heard outside the gate of our quarters.
The commotion begins with the villagers' outcry.
“He was sent off under escort to the military prison in St. -Omer for court-martial.”
He was taken under guard to the military prison in St.-Omer to face a court-martial.
The soldier is formally processed for trial.
“What’s the punishment—if guilty? I asked. Death, said the colonel, resuming his egg.”
When I asked what the punishment would be if he were found guilty, the colonel calmly replied 'Death' and went back to eating his egg.
The colonel's matter-of-fact response underscores the severity of military justice.