The Captain has been through hell and back and after his homecoming he encounters a society unable to support and grasp the magnitude of his emotional grief over fallen comrades and humiliation over lost territory.
When dealing with our protagonist, the 3rd person narrator is omniscient and, consequently, we have a rather straightforward and uncensored insight to the mind and being of the Captain. As the following quote reveals, the tone of the narrator seems somewhat concerned and empathic with the Captain: ‘The face of the Captain, (…), was drawn and exhausted, for he had only stopped fighting three days before, and within him his soul was dead.’ (ll. 11-14. P. 3).
On several occasions Osbert Sitwell choses to pause and break the rhythm of the text by inserting three full stops. ‘it was like seeing the ghost of someone you had loved. … ‘Defeat.’ …’ (ll. 20-21. P. 4). The locations of the full stops are deliberately chosen to force the reader to slow down and ponder upon the concrete piece of text.
Though it is never mentioned, The Captain is obviously suffering from shell shock and battle fatigue. Page 3 and 4 reveal some of the experiences he has been through; namely, among others, overwhelming German striking power, the grim sight of fallen soldiers in ditches, and the sounds of thunder-like machine guns. He cannot let go of the ‘…sights and sounds …[they are]… more real to him than the silvery perspective of tall, shivering poplars…’ (ll. 10-11. P. 4). The extract reveals, that he mentally has not come home yet. In addition to his absentmindedness, he his also both physically and mentally defeated. His defeat is described in the sixteen-fold repetition of ‘Defeat.’ throughout the text but also pictured in a metaphor at the very beginning: ‘Battle alters the face of the world, but defeat and collapse may at first leave it intact, just as a gutted house often shows no change, except for its dead, blank windows.’ (Ll.1-3. P. 1).
The Captain is a complex protagonist. Even though he recently has been through seminal and life changing experiences he stays stable throughout the story. However, his internal struggles and background contributes to his round character.
After the German Officer’s humiliation of The Captain, he gives up his attempt to keep up appearances towards Estelle and her mother. Despite his manhood and relationship with Estelle are shattered, he actually seems, to some extend, relieved: ‘…But he was tired, so tired that he scarcely suffered. It was over.’ (ll. 26-27. P. 6).
Also in regards of Estelle, our narrator is omniscient. She is described as a pretty, yet, provincial looking girl. She is the inevitable result of her ‘convent upbringing’ (l. 2. P. 3.). Furthermore, she is ‘… still waiting, for the vital forces to descend and give her life.’ (Ll. 6-7 P. 3). This contributes to our notion of her as a shallow and naïve person. This notion gathers strength in the description of her lack of comprehension of the situation: ‘ ‘Remember, I shall have to find a trade now, … Her face fell, … she had not fully grasped that the French army was in dissolution.’ (ll. 3-12. P. 5).
Her thoughts are, compared to the Captain’s, not thoroughly described. This indicates, in a slightly humorous way, that she does not understand the situation.
‘Defeat’ evolves around the issue of homecoming soldiers’ alienation from their surroundings. The Captain has returned to a society with a general reluctance to speak about the elephant in the room. The surroundings’ hesitant willingness to speak about his experiences and feelings has a self-perpetuating effect. The longer they avoid the subject, the more unbearable it gets. The German Officer’s interference marks breaking point for the Captain, but there is no doubt, that he eventually would break either way. One could argue, that the German Officer’s rebuking of the French soldiers is not meant as a humiliation, but merely a friendly gesture to restore normality. However, for the Captain the gesture serves as the inevitable and devastating realisation of despair. ‘Defeat’ does not reveal Estelle’s, who also serves as metaphor for society, reaction to the humiliation. It is left for the reader to contemplate whether Estelle and society are capable of handling the changes the Captain has been through.
