Sebastian Faulks first published ‘Birdsong’ in 1993, 64 years after ‘A Farewell to Arms’ by Ernest Hemingway was published. An immediate difference we notice between the books is the experience behind the story, Hemingway joined the Italian front as an ambulance driver similarly to his character which suggests the novel is written based on firsthand experience. Already we assume that Hemingway is more likely to show the true devastation caused as Faulks cannot attain any of the knowledge or emotions of the soldiers he wrote about. These books, placed in the category of ‘World War One literature’, undoubtedly contain conflict however they address a number of different kinds of conflict, including the conflict of faith, the physical devastation of war and also the crisis of masculinity.
Conflict is demonstrated socially in ‘Birdsong’ with the stereotypical idea of masculinity and the expectations of male soldiers. Sandra Gilbert[1] states, “The war to which so many had gone in hope of becoming heroes ended up emasculating them.” This is interpreted as a reference to the deterioration of masculinity and how Faulks displays this in the trenches. As there are no women in the ranks, there are feminine roles to be fulfilled and homo-socialism is presented. Homo-socialism and the bond that soldiers share can be misconstrued as homosexuality, according to Trudi Tate[2] “war provided opportunities for erotic relationships among men that were not necessarily available in peacetime.” As we know, homosexuality was not welcomed at this time, while phrases such as “he admired his huge back with his muscles slabbed and spread out across his shoulders”[3] may support this idea of homosexuality, in my opinion it is merely appreciation for the male physique. Pat Wheeler[4] supports this by agreeing that “Jack Firebrace recognises the powerful masculinity inherent in the working-class body.” Julie Ellam[5] displays how Faulks displays masculinity as not being a biological ‘normality’. She explains how “’Birdsong’ criticises the dominant view that men who fight in a war should be brave when walking into an almost certain death.” This relates to Simone de Beauvoir’s[6] view in ‘The Second Sex’ (1949) that “One is not born a woman, one becomes one”, I agree with this explanation of gender differences and it is supported in ‘Birdsong’ on many occasions such as the homo-social relationship between Jack and Shaw in times when “he would do Shaw’s clothes for him to”[7], this creates an image of the soldiers creating a family and supporting each other. ‘A Farewell To Arms’ has a more subtle way of showing that there is more to the characters than just heroic acts of bravery by strong men with unwavering courage, after Henry escapes from being executed and he is “Lying on the floor of the flat-car with the guns beside me under the canvas, I was wet, cold, and very hungry.”[8] he shows us that there are limits to his masculinity and he admits that he, and every other soldier, does not meet the expectations of the stereotypical ‘war hero’. Throughout ‘Birdsong’ we do not view women as having any major control over their lives as Isabelle is always handicapped by somebody or something whether it be her husband or her injury, this is very different in ‘AFTA’, quite the opposite to the stereotypical masculine figure, the expectations of femininity were considerably low, women were considered weak, emotionally and physically. The character of Catherine Barkley opposes this, she displays acts of stoicism and courage especially when committing herself to Henry despite the feelings of guilt towards her dead fiancé and the opinions of others, also it is very rare that she relies on someone other than herself for support, even when she is about to die she continues to reassure Henry that “I’m not a bit afraid. It’s just a dirty trick.”[9] This presents the idea that Catherine expected the worst in life so she was never disappointed.
“The blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs.”[10] A quote from ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen shows a hyperbolic view on the physical devastation of war very similar to Faulks’ way of describing the death of a man with “gas frothing in his lungs”[11] due to chemical weapons. The First World War was the first in which chemical weapons, such as mustard gas, therefore the effects of these weapons are more likely to cause a shock and a larger reaction as soldiers had not experienced them previously, “poison gas was probably the most feared of all weapons in World War One.”[12] The physical devastation of war was made all the more tragic due to the contrast between the picturesque imagery we receive from “chestnut trees, lilac and willows”[13] and the mid warfare description of the landscape being destroyed and polluted with men “digging a mass grave”[14] and trees “the bark of which was flaking under lateral fire”[15]. The difference in images presents the effects of consequences physical conflict can cause. Faulks also produces events that give us a broader perspective such as the injury Isabelle obtained on “the left side of her face…disfigured”[16], this displays to us how war can affect everywhere not only the areas or people directly involved. Another interesting perspective ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ shows us is the idea that war is as “obscene as cancer”[17] it presents us with the connotation that war is a disease that claims everyone. This is similar to “The Blitz on British cities.”[18] during the Second World War despite the main battles of the war being based in France. Hemingway uses much less description in his work than that of Faulks, however his language has the same impact. “A British major at the club told me the Italians had lost one hundred and fifty thousand men..”,[19] extensive use of adjectives does not capture the true emotions of the soldiers or the true devastation of war however the figure stated in the above quote displays to you a genuine idea of the impact of war. Another difference between the writing style of Faulks and Hemingway is the way they present the damage psychologically to the soldiers, Faulks describes how the soldiers look to everyone else how “His eyes…there was no light in them”[20] whereas Hemingway talks about their actions, for example “Stretcher bearers came in all the time, put their stretcher down, unloaded them and went away”[21]. His lack of description induces a robotic tone to the stretcher bearers actions portraying how they’ve eliminated all thoughts and emotions. Malcom Cowley[22] called this Hemingway’s “subtractive” method, “he has subtracted the embellishment; he has subtracted all the descriptions, the meditations, the statements of the theory and he has reserved only the characters and their behaviour – their acts, their sensual perceptions, their words.” While this was seen by Fanny Butcher[23] to be a positive attribute as his writing was “perfectly clear”, other critics such as Henry Hazlitt[24] felt “the quality of Hemingway’s prose tended to become dull after a time and was ill-suited for conveying nuances, shades and subtleties.”
Violence and war are considered to be discriminations of faith by some characters in ‘Birdsong’ who completely lose their faith, they are conflicted with the idea that God is punishing them with this war or that he is involved on some level as he is still in their prayers, “Please God, let it stop”[25]. Others have completely lost their faith during the war as we see when “Horrocks pulled the silver cross from his chest and hurled it from him”[26]’ Religious soldiers were under the impression that their God was watching over them however after all the horror they had seen faith ‘died in him’. In contrast, ‘A Farewell To Arms’ offers much less religious conflict, there is rarely a mention of faith in the novel other than the priest, whom the soldiers don’t respect as much as they would if they followed a religion, their lighthearted mocking of him isn’t intended maliciously however would not appropriate if they were to share the same beliefs. We see conflict in faith at various other points throughout ‘Birdsong’, such as Stephen visiting the Cathedral in part one of the novel. Stephen himself does not follow a religion although we can see he wishes too as he is “mildly envious of their faith”[27], it could be that there is conflict within Stephen as to whether he feels he can follow a religion or not as when the ‘chilly, hostile building offered little comfort’ it is as though he is not being forgiven for his sins such as his affair with Isabelle. While Stephen seeks comfort and acceptance of his romantic life in religion, Catherine claims that Henry is “My religion. You’re all I’ve got”[28] as she hands him a religious token, it is curious that though she declares she does not believe in such a thing, she hands it to Henry for luck, as though some part of her wants to believe however she cannot due to her past experiences. Another cause of Stephen’s jealousy might possibly be that they have an afterlife to go to, Stephen is set on being saved ‘from that death’ as he does not have the trust or belief that he has a heaven to go to. In addition to this, further on in the novel we witness a change in Stephen as he slowly forgives himself and gains faith in a life after death, this would explain why he acts nonchalant when speaking about his own death, ‘I don’t value my life enough.’ This could perhaps be so as a result of his revelation when injured, he admits that ‘I began to believe in something’. Faulks clearly demonstrates the confusion and internal battle the soldiers must be experiencing.
After having analysed three main themes of conflict featured throughout the novels it would be foolish to categorise these pieces of literature as a stereotypical war books with only violence and action. The texts broadens our minds and opens them to the idea that we are all affected and linked to the war in some way as are even the supporting characters in the novels. While Faulks’ and Hemingway’s writing styles vary greatly they are both effective in capturing the reader, some may argue that they appeal to different audiences as Faulks’ novel is more designed to sell rather than convey a message, therefore it is written in such a way that it is more of an enjoyable read, especially with a romantic backstory. Another reason the novels appeal to different audiences is because they were designed for separate readers, at the time ‘A Farewell to Arms’ was first published, a scene featuring explicit sexual description would not have been appreciated by the audience, a critic, Robert Herrick[29], described Hemingway’s work as “dirt” referring to the hospital scene where Henry convinces Catherine to make love to him, “This I maintain is merely another lustful indulgence.” “It has no significance, no more than what goes on in a brothel, hardly more than the copulation of animals.” If Hemingway was to go input more detail and provocative language into the scene, similar to Faulks’ work in ‘Birdsong’, ‘A Farewell to Arms’ would have been criticised further. Hemingway communicates the devastation caused by war more effectively and more truly than Faulks, this is probably aided by the knowledge that Hemingway lived his story, or one very similar, this adds much more depth to his words leaving his words to form their own picture in our imagination, this leads us to understand the story more and entices us to connect with it. When reading ‘Birdsong’ there is no thought necessary to create an image in our mind, the picture is written for us, more like we are watching television than reading a book, watching conflict unfold does not carry the same effect as developing it yourself. Faulks communicates the conflict in the novel very clearly, but not as effectively as show in ‘A Farewell To Arms’.
[1] Gilbert, S Unknown Text
[2] Tate, T. Modernism, History and the First World War (1998 Manchester) P 103
[3] Faulks, S. Birdsong (London: Vintage Books: 1994) p 221
[4] Wheeler, P. Birdsong, A Reader’s Guide (Continuum, New York, London, 2002) p 21
[5] Ellam, J. Unknown Text (Birdsong and Critical Movements)
[6] Beauvoir, S. The second sex (Vintage Classics, New Ed edition, 1997)
[7] Faulks, S. Ibid. p 311
[8] Hemingway, E. A Farewell to Arms (Arrow; New Ed edition, 1994) p103
[9] Hemingway, E. ibid p 296
[10] Owen, W. Dulce et Decorum Est
[11] Faulks, S. ibid p126
[12] Trueman, C. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/poison_gas_and_world_war_one.htm (17th January 2014)
[13] Faulks, S. ibid p 2
[14] Faulks, S. ibid p187
[15] Faulks, S. ibid p 193
[16] Faulks, S. p 256
[17] Owen, W. Dulce et Decorum Est
[18] Trueman, C. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/blitz_and_world_war_two.htm (17th January 2014)
[19] Hemingway, E. ibid p 187
[20] Faulks, S. ibid p 376
[21] Hemingway, E. ibid p 85
[22] Cowley, M. New Essays on A Farewell To Arms (Cambridge University Press, London, 1991) Scott Donaldson
[23] Butcher, F. ibid Scott Donaldson
[24] Hazlitt, H. ibid Scott Donaldson
[25] Faulks, S. ibid p249
[26] Faulks, S. ibid p432
[27] Faulks, S. ibid 321
[28] Hemingway, E. ibid 231
[29] Herrick, R. ibid Scott Donaldson
Word Count – 2008
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