Form, structure and language - CCEAJuxtaposition

Johnston employs juxtaposition when Alec describes Jerry’s feet as “bare, dust-grey and with soles obviously as hard and impervious to stones, thorns, damp, as were the soles of my expensive black leather shoes”.

The juxtaposition of Jerry’s bare feet with the expensive shoes Alec wears immediately shows the difference in class between the two characters.

We see Alicia Moore’s beauty juxtaposed with the ugliness of her personality.

For example, soon after Mr Cave describes her as “Such a beautiful woman” she cruelly dismisses him because of her disgust at his “appalling smell” and “his disease and poverty”.

This cruel snobbery makes her a dislikable character despite her beauty.

Johnston also uses juxtaposition to highlight how cold and distant Alicia is as a mother. Her “theatrical” and seemingly insincere grief at Alec’s leaving is juxtaposed with the emotional farewell from the servants who “gathered round clutching at my hands and touching my coat”.

This serves to show just how distant the relationship between Alec and his parents is. The only tears at his leaving are from Mrs Williams, the cook.

Intertextuality

When Frederick is trying to persuade his wife that Alec should not go to war she responds with the Latin phrase “Dulce et decorum est …”.

This is significant intertextuality because today we know the phrase from Wilfred Owen’s poem of the same name.

It comes from a line written by the Roman poet Horace, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” which means ‘it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country’.

Owen - who fought and died in World War One - uses Horace’s line ironically in an anti-war poem about the horrors of the trenches and the futility of war.

As modern readers familiar with Owen’s poem, this intertextuality only reminds us of the horrific scenes of despair and devastation Owen depicted in his poems.

There are also frequent references to The Croppy Boy, a tragic Irish folk song from the 19th century.

‘Croppy’ was a nickname given to Irish rebels fighting for independence from Britain during an uprising in 1798.

The song tells the story of a croppy who stops at a church confessional on his way to battle. After confessing his story the ‘priest’ reveals himself as an English soldier, he arrests the man who is sentenced to death.

The parallels between this and Jerry and Alec’s story are clear, and it is very poignant that Jerry is singing the song as he dies.

The final lines he sings - “I bear no hate against living thing, / But I love my country above my king” - ring true for men who go to war for their country but who “bear no hate” for any of the men they are recruited to kill.