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By Nik Prentice, Ethan Kellett and Anestis Topsahalidis

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A parallel between Generals die in bed and a video game Battlefield 1 (2016) is the way that the soldiers are written like are very similar to the attitudes as the characters in BF1. You will notice in BF1 and GDIB that the soldiers in war don’t act enthusiastically or are outward personalities, they are very solemn and grim, and there is little joy in the trenches only calm brooding.  These attitudes are most prevalent with the narrator while hiding in a dugout, and the BF1 character ‘McManus’.

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There appears to be an emphasis on two-way small talk in this chapter, I thought this was strange because it doesn’t appear in many other chapters. I suppose this was put here as a way of character development.

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This chapter appears to have the theme of appreciating the smaller things in life. The narrator is overjoyed when he sees the “smoke that is not the harbinger of death”, he also learns to appreciate Brownie. Brownie also is a symbol for everything they took for granted before the war, and now they are sad because it is gone. There is also a theme in this chapter of the constant reminder that a war is going on. The narrator says he can still hear the artillery when he is in the village, and when he goes to the stream, he finds the French soldiers corpse.

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-Prostrate: Lying out stretched on the ground

-Monotonous: Emotionless, or with one tone

-Billets: places (usually civilian houses or barns in this books case) where soldiers are housed temporarily

-Tarts: Women

-Pips: Lieutenants

-Estaminet: A place similar to a restaurant

-Frogs: French people

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The author uses short sharp sentences to describe the high intensity of the events that engulf him. In these short sentences, he does away with distractions and unnecessary wording and gets straight to the point. This is shown effectively on pages 98 where it writes:
“The terrific noise is gone.
The raid is over.”………..
………“They are spacious.
The effect of the rum begins to wear off.
I try to sleep.
I cannot.
I am proud of myself.”
In this part of the book the author has described his first direct engagement with the enemy in person. He has survived the damp, mud and the wet trenches, the rats and the lice and the perpetual bombardment of hundreds of artillery bombs. The raid on the German trench where he was exposed literally, to the face of a German, tested his character and his determination to survive. After this experience, it seems that he has become more reflecting and more philosophical about war and life in general.

“What is so terrible about the death of one of these boys – about the death of one of us? I guess it is because we do not want to die – because we hang on so pitifully to life as it slips away. Our lives are stolen – taken from us unawares.”  (page 104)

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Throughout the book, Charles Yale Harrison uses similes and metaphors to give an in depth emotive feeling to the reader. An example he uses on page 89 is “There is froth in the corners of his mouth which opens and shuts like a fish out of water”. This simile shows the pain that the German is in that the he stabbed with his bayonet. He has only a few breathes of life left and they seem to be very uncomfortable.

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“Better out of it” Used by Cleary when referring to Brownie’s death, used as another way of saying ‘better him than us’

“Any port in a storm” meaning ‘in adverse circumstances one welcomes any source of relief or escape’. There is a recurring motif where the narrator of the story starts to appreciate the small things in life, which he used to take for granted.

“Gee, I was sorry that I kidded about her” The narrator is now beginning to gain an appreciation for Brownie and regretting teasing him about his wife, now that he is gone.

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-        Turmoil           A disturbance; confusion

-        Perpetual        Lasting for a long time

-        Coveted          Wish to have something, especially a thing that belongs to someone else

-        Tumultuous    Making a tumult; noisy

-        Epithets          Words expressing something about a person or thing e.g. Alexander the ‘Great’

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Key quotes:

1.      “More terrible than lightning, more cruel, more calculating than an earthquake!” (page 80)

2.      “Yea, all of us have prayed during the maniac frenzy of a bombardment.” (page 81)

3.      “I went through all that without breaking down.” (page 98)

4.      “Who can comfort who in war? Who can care for us, we who are set loose at each other and tear each other’s entrails with silent gleaming bayonets?” (page 95)

5.      “But it is better not to think….” (page 104)

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Character development             Chapter 5   Chapter 6

Anderson-

Doesn’t approve of the French girls in the town trading sex for food. ‘No wonder their country is in ruins’
He is matured, he is 40’

Annoyed with his colleagues taking the lords name in vain and swearing.

Predicts the end of the war based on his faith.

Cleary-

‘Shame about Brownie, ‘Better out of it’. Respect for brown, he’s no longer a man, he’s a symbol.

Fights Broadbent over dispute of rations

Killed in action during Narrators raid.

Narrator-
(Chapter 5 development shared by others below)

Volunteered for raid on enemy trench.

Kills German solider, clumsily, unlike one thinks war will be like

Takes prisoners, one being the brother of the German he killed ‘Mein Bruder’ (my brother)

Has a moment comforting the German prisoners, ‘who can comfort whom in war’.

Talk of MM (military medal) Narrator refuses to take souvenirs of victory as the thought sickens him.
Thinks where to go on leave, France or London.

Adding to trauma, narrator riffles through dead Cleary’s pockets for his papers he left with him.

Try’s to forget trauma and pain. ‘Better not to think’
All-
All are happy on rest, they are away from the trenches, there’s cheap wine, food beds and girls. That’s until the body of a solider comes around to remind them of the war that will reclaim them to hell.

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-The crew leave the trenches and they are at a crossroad when they are bombarded by German artillery, no one in the main group dies.

-The group continue until they get to a bean field where they talk about Brownie, who was recently killed by a sniper.

-They then take a train to billets, which are places (usually civilian houses or barns in this books case) where soldiers are housed temporarily.

-They find out that they have a two-month holiday, get paid, and go to the estaminet, which is like a restaurant. They eat a lot of food, get really drunk and have an overall good time. One of the characters (Cleary) explains how he almost got a girl until she asked him for food.

-He then says that the French have no morals and “it is no wonder why their country is in ruins.

-On the final day of the of leave, they find a stream and go swimming in it. They are swimming for a while until they see a French soldier’s corpse wash up, as a reminder that they are still fighting in a war.

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Key events:

-              The bombardment of shells spray over their trenches. It is endless. It feels like it never stops. They were praying to stay alive. They are in darkness as the candle keeps on blowing out from the vibration of the ground. The beams that are supporting the dugout might collapse.

-              The raid was planned to run at the enemy’s base. He overcame his fear of death and had courage to leave the trench and run onto ‘no man’s land’.  As he reached the enemies base he killed a German by stabbing him with his bayonet. He then had trouble trying to withdraw the gun out of the guy’s chest. He leaves his gun and runs away. He realises that he is by himself and unarmed so he goes back to retrieve his gun.

-              After the raid was finished and returned back to base, he contemplated about his feelings, why kill? Why sacrifice lives? How his life has changed and why he doesn’t feel emotions when a recruit dies.

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A parallel between Generals die in bed and Battlefield 1.

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Battlefield 1: Through Mud & Blood Intro

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Uploaded by Galactic Warlords on 2016-11-09.