The way in which the prologue informs the reader of how the older Leo has become reclusive and distant from society is made extremely apparent not only in the narration, but the tone of narration and the manner of the speaker. The tone of the prologue proves to be very melancholy and wistful to the extent that the reader gets the feeling that Leo wishes he could go back in time in hope of changing the events which caused him to become how he is now, “had it not been for the diary, or what the diary stood for, everything would be different”. The prologue tells of traumatic experiences suffered by the young Leo, so much so, that they have prevented him from forming any kind of relationship in his adult life. This evokes great sympathy from the reader, even though they are unaware of the actual events that took place, they understand that whatever happened, it must have been extreme to cause this much emotional scarring and change in one person. It is at this point, before the novel has even begun that the reader will feel the most sympathy for Leo, until the epilogue as its here that they see the full impact of the summer at Brandham Hall although they have not yet learned of the events that occurred.
The prologue and the opening chapters of the novel inform the reader of what the younger Leo was like, and it is here that they feel no sympathy towards him due to his pompousness and self-importance after his gain in respect and authority at school after the Jenkins and Strode saga. The reader is told of how Leo was an only-child, brought up in a fairly well off, middle class family, his father a bank manager, his mother a housewife. The reader is also told of his fathers death at an impressionable time in Leo’s life and how his mother “sensitive to public opinion in the village”, and “liked gossip”. At this point, the reader has no reason to feel sympathy towards Leo as he has had a comfortable background, has an extremely high-opinion of himself after his triumph at school and was “a super-snob”.
From this introduction to Leo before his encounter at Brandham Hall, the reader is given a taste of what the real Leo was like before he became caught up in the activities of the others staying at Brandham Hall and so provides him with an air of vulnerability on his arrival at Brandham Hall. This vulnerability is emphasised in the way that he is around the guests also staying at Brandham Hall, and including the way in which he is dressed. The role of clothes plays a major part throughout the novel as to begin with, Leo did not fit in accordingly to those around him due to his outfit, and the day when Marian took him shopping proved to be a chance for Marian and Leo to kindle a bond, a bond that would later lead to friendship. It is apparent to the reader that Marian’s friendship with Leo would later turn into a way to manipulate Leo. When Marian asks Leo to continue carrying messages between Ted and her, not only does Leo oblige due to his feeling of importance, but also it may seem as though Marian could have manipulated Leo to do so by lavishing him with gifts and attention.
It is at this point that the theme of growing up and transitioning from child to adult is aroused as Leo is tiring of childish amusements such as sliding down a haystack, and so is flattered when Ted asks him to deliver a letter to Marian for him. It is emphasised that Leo hates it when adults looked on him as nothing more than a child and so the reader is led to believe it is why Leo admires and respects both Ted and Trimingham, almost looking up to them as father figures due to the recent death of his own father. He likes being the centre of attention, but also fears making a fool of himself in front of those who he commends. Although Leo sees himself as an adult, he is still a child in many ways, for example comparing and also confusing the members of Brandham Hall with members of the Zodiac. From this point of view, the reader can offer empathy towards Leo because by seeing these two men as those to who Leo should be looking up to, when they do him wrong, it causes him to believe it was his own fault.
In addition to growing up, Leo is beginning to feel self-conscious around those staying at Brandham Hall not only because of the gap in social status, but the appearance of his clothes. The first example where Leo’s new-found self-awareness is at the Tea Party, where Marcus constantly reminds him of how his behaviour, attitude and clothes affect how people think of him. It is constantly made clear that throughout the novel, clothes represent personality and social status, as Leo is desperate to fit in and so wears his new clothes constantly in order to appear as though he is “one of them”. From this angle, the reader gains an insight into Leo’s perspective on how he must do his utmost to fit in with those in the class above him, and this again will rouse a certain empathy as his eagerness to conform with those he admires makes the reader feel sorry for him, as he constantly feels inferior and out of place.
By the attention provided by both Marian and Ted due to their necessity of a postman and Hugh who gets information about Marian from Leo, Leo gains a greater self-importance and it is here that he starts to idealise these people. He likens them to Gods, the characters of the Zodiac, and therefore puts them on a pedestal where they don’t belong. By associating these people with Gods, it is understandable that Leo cannot comprehend them doing wrong, so after the final event of the summer on Leo’s birthday, he doesn’t even think to blame them, and so blames himself, causing his nervous breakdown. Due to this self-blame over a situation of which he had no control, Leo has in fact done himself greater harm. It is here that the reader shouldn’t feel sympathetic towards Leo because it was his own fault which caused greater damage but the reader is forced to feel compassion due to the fact that Leo could see no further than the end of the summer and did not understand the full consequences of the mess in which he had got entangled in.
In Chapter 15, Leo is left to ponder over Hugh’s words, and his impressionability is emphasised as he takes, “Nothing is ever a Lady’s fault” to heart and accepts Hugh’s morals. When Marian asks Leo to take another message for her, he impulsively refuses, worried that the continual message taking could lead to murder, as his talk with Hugh is constantly reinforced in his mind. Marian, in response, loses her temper and verbal control, accusing him of being a “Shylock”. This hurts Leo as although he does not know what it means, he therefore cannot deny it, and so acts impetuously on a childlike response to just grab the letter and run away. From this it is apparent to the reader that Leo is deeply hurt by Marian’s reaction, and now thinks that she was only exploiting him as a postman and all of his memories of her are based on deceitful illusion. Leo’s response to Marian’s explosion proves him to be just as much as a child as he was when he first arrived at Brandham Hall, and so the reader is once again left feeling sorry for him.
It is made apparent to the reader that Leo suffered from guilt not only as a child, but has continued to live with the guilt of the events late into his adult life. As a child, he was caused to feel guilty when Marian and Ted were found out and then consequently Ted’s suicide, he was led to believe that because of his role as postmen, he “had also destroyed Ted”. The reader is told of how Leo dealt with the aftershock of the summer and how his mother would constantly reassure him that he “had nothing to be ashamed of”, which only reinforced the occurrence of events. The reader is also notified of how the elder Leo carries guilt, so much so, that emotional and sexual scarring from which he suffered prevented from his establishing any sort of relationship in his adult life. This kind of effect on someone would definitely be reason enough to feel sympathy.
The reader knows that the main reason that “it did not occur to (him) that they had treated (him) badly” was because of the potentially damaging habit that Leo indulged in, of putting people on pedestals. By making these people his icons, caused him to believe that they could do no wrong, and so when they caused him harm, it did not make sense to him as to where to put the blame, and so he ended up bearing it on his shoulders. Due to this habit of idealising people, seeing only what he wanted to, caused Leo to suffer a much greater fall. Considering the fact that Leo had put these people on a pedestal, it is obvious that it would not have even occurred to him that the blame should have fell at their feet, but because of his idealisation of them, seeing them only as he wanted to see them caused his greater damage in the longrun. From this point of view, Leo is deserving of empathy because he was only a young boy at the time, not realising the consequences of his actions where concerning specific people staying at Brandham Hall, but it was his habit of only seeing people how he wanted to see them that would cause the reader to be less sympathetic.
One of the most evident themes conveyed throughout the book is that of discovery of sexuality, and in addition, loss of innocence. Leo is scarred both sexually and emotionally from his summer experience, and the impact of this caused him to turn into an emotionally hollow adult. The impact of Leo’s summer visit of 1900 caused the downfall and ruin of his adult life and so Leo Colston is definitely deserving of sympathy.
