The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West - Assignment Example

Topic: The return of the soldier by Rebecca West can be ified as one of those stories which have been influenced greatlyby the First World War. The plot focuses on a number of different and versatile aspects for instance there is a love triangle right alongside psychological strains. The major characters of the novel include Chris, the soldier of war who is quite wealthy. Kitty, Chris’s wife and Margret Grey his lover during his youth. Jenny is a friend of Kitty who is narrating the story. The novel dates back to 1918. The plot is such that Jenny receives a letter from Frank Baldry, the real cousin of Chris the war soldier informing Jenny that Chris, during the course of war, had suffered from amnesia and had lost his recent memory. His old memories however are intact. Therefore, Jenny learns from Frank that the portion of the memory of Chris that was affected by amnesia was the one which had Kitty her wife in it. He failed to remember even a slight memory regarding Kitty. On the other hand he considers his youth memories with Margret as quite fresh. Later in the novel one also learns that before coming home, Chris sent a letter to Margret in France asking her to meet him upon his return. Margret Grey, unlike Kitty, was quite a simple person and not that wealthy. She had signs of aging on her and the indications of youth from her face had almost disappeared entirely. But ine learns later in the novel that although what some might call a lowly life, she was quite satisfied with it. During the course of this paper, the main aspects of the novel would be elaborated along with some of the hidden significances. Shedding some critical light on the novel, it can be easily observed that there is a sheer uncomfortable atmosphere all along the novel. One sees that Kitty, a woman of pure class who was admired by everyone, and who was the queen of Chris’s heart and his humongous stately house had within an instant, after learning of the letter had her conditions changed upside down. The mansion of hers was no more a luxury anymore as both the stately house and the name of Chris haunted her emotions of the affections that Chris used to have towards her. Contrary to the usual scenario of a soldier’s return to his home after the war, the novel draws a blurred picture of the severe trauma he faces as a result of the war and what’s even more tragic, the impact of all that trauma on the girls back home, one his wife, second his cousin and the third his old lover. In a broader aspect, one can say that the effect of the trauma faced by Chris on Jenny and Kitty resulted in a severe identity crisis as they all along the novel they try to reconstruct the feelings and thoughts of Chris regarding them and hence ultimately trying to reconstruct their personalities and identities. Margret on the other hand surprisingly likes the fact that Chris has suffered from amnesia although she is quite satisfied with her mediocre life. The most tragic aspect of the novel in the first six chapters is Kitty’s finding out that Chris has suffered amnesia and has forgotten her. And that too, second handedly from Jenny and Frank. She struggles and tries to remind him everything about her life with him and their marriage. She also tries to familiarize him with his own life that he had forgotten including the death of some closed ones. The climax of the Kitty’s tragic feelings and shock are witnessed in the second chapter when she says he used to pretend that he liked my singing and I sang pretty well. She then continues to Jenny who gave her the news of his amnesia in a cry saying bring him home twice. What Kitty could not comprehend was that how could Chris forget his clever and beautiful wife with whom he shared a lot of memories and instead of her, remember and still adore Margret with whom Chris spent a little time during his younger years. At times in the novel, West has shown the frustration faced by Kitty due to the unfortunate amnesia, but she usually stays composed. The interesting analogy in the novel by West is between the two ladies of Chris’s life, Margret and Kitty. Some might say that Kitty had everything in this world a woman can demand and dream of; a successful husband, a strong character, a humongous stately mansion, beauty. In contrast to her, Margret has nothing what a woman of any manner would dream of. Her husband is not as successful as Chris, in fact what the novel tells us is that the husband is a failure. She has a less than mediocre home. The signs of beauty, youth and freshness are fading away from her face. Yet, the victorious in terms of Chris amongst them is Margret. An unexpected turn due to the post traumatic effect made her the apple of Chris’s eye. A philosophic point of `view of the novel would account for the unpredictability of the life as to how the tables are turned in life without any prior indication. The novel also focuses on the socio economic differences between the two different classes and also the tensions faced by both the classes, one based on the socioeconomic crisis while the other based on the psychological strains. Some might call the novel a codified form of the shifts between psychological strains and socioeconomic stresses. Concluding the paper here, it must be said that this novel is more than just a story of a household and a tragic love triangle. This novel represents the thousands of homes and families that have been affected by war in one way or the other, though it would be quite rare to find such a circumstance as descried in the novel. Apart from the main plot, the novel has many deliberately hidden and implied significations, for instance, the unpredictability of life. However there is some level of negativity in the character of Jenny as some might say. The logic behind that idea is that at first when Jenny learns of the amnesia, she comforts Kitty. Subsequently she tries to establish an emotionally intimate relationship with kitty by comforting her all the time as Chris had forgotten both of them, although kitty does not allow her entirely to create emotional resonance with her. Then as Jenny observes that kitty had no real intention in letting jenny in on her emotional stress, she tries to team up with Margret. Margret was the only person who was remembered by Chris. In fact, he absolutely adored her. The reason behind Jenny’s reaching out to Margret was that Jenny actually wanted to gain access to Chris. But Kitty actually had no problem with that. Later in the novel, Kitty and Jenny even try to remind Chris of all the memories and the people and bringing him out of the post traumatic amnesia by striking some old painful memories. This was suggested by a doctor Kitty and Jenny consulted. They use Margret in the process by letting her in on their technique. Kitty and Chris had a son who died and Margret tries to show him the clothes of Kitty and Chris’s son. Margret although has a husband who she is happy with and her mediocre life too but as the novel progresses, she starts growing affectionate towards Chris once again and starts visiting the Baldry house more often. Bibliography DROŽĐEK, B., & WILSON, J. P. (2007). Voices of trauma treating psychological trauma across cultures. Springer E-Books. New York, Springer. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=373097. Top of Form WEST, R. (1982). The return of the soldier. New York, N.Y., Dial Press. Bottom of Form Top of Form WEST, R., & MAY, N. (2008). The return of the soldier. [Ashland, Or.], Blackstone Audio. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=247024. Bottom of Form Read More