# XVII explained — Now It Can Be Told

> Chapter companion for Now It Can Be Told by Philip Gibbs.

## What happens

The narrator recalls dining with General Sir Neville Macready, the adjutant-general, and hearing his story about being left behind during the chaotic retreat from Mons. The chapter illustrates the grim humor and stoic resilience of soldiers, as Macready casually returns to a joke after learning of a friend's death.

## Themes in this chapter

### Futility of War

The chaos and disorganization of the retreat from Mons, with G.H.Q. forgetting its own adjutant-general, underscores the absurdity and mismanagement of war.

### Comradeship and Human Spirit

Macready's ability to laugh and carry on after reading a friend's name on the casualty list exemplifies the soldier's way of coping through dark humor and resilience.

## Character check-ins

### Sir Neville Macready

Adjutant-general who tells the story of being forgotten during the retreat from Mons and displays a soldier's stoicism upon reading a casualty list.

### Colonel Childs

Hotheaded officer who senses danger in the quiet village and discovers that G.H.Q. has moved on, alerting Macready.

### Sir John French

Commander-in-Chief who had already left his château, leaving others behind.

### Unknown Narrator

The narrator who dines with Macready and recounts the anecdote.

## Key lines

> It was not, to tell the truth, that 'orderly' retreat which is described in secondhand accounts. There were times when it was a wild stampede from the tightening loop of a German advance, with lorries and motorcycles and transport wagons going helter-skelter among civilian refugees and mixed battalions and stragglers from every unit walking, footsore, in small groups.

The retreat from Mons was far from the orderly withdrawal often portrayed; it was a chaotic scramble with vehicles and soldiers mixed among fleeing civilians.

_Contrasts official narratives with the reality of the retreat._

> The day's casualty list was brought into the adjutant-general one evening when I was dining in his mess. The orderly put it down by the side of his plate, and he interrupted a funny story to glance down the columns of names. 'Du Maurier has been killed … I'm sorry.' He put down the paper beside his plate again and continued his story, and we all laughed heartily at the end of the anecdote.

While dining, Macready paused a joke to note a friend's death on the casualty list, then resumed the story, and everyone laughed.

_Illustrates the soldier's stoic acceptance of death and the use of humor as a coping mechanism._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/chapters/xvii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/now_it_can_be_told_se/chapters