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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Long Long Way, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Youth, Naivety, and Growing Up
The Horrors of War
Family, Camaraderie, and Love
Political Conflict and Divided Loyalties
Resilience and Shared Humanity
Summary
Analysis
From the newspaper, Willie learns that people from all over the British Empire are signing up for the war. John Redmond has encouraged men to go and fight for Home Rule because Britain will reward Ireland with independence if Irishmen contribute to the war effort. However, Ulstermen are joining the army for the opposite reason: to prevent Home Rule. Willie’s father thinks Redmond is a scoundrel. He believes men should fight for “King and Country and Empire.”
As a result of the debate in Ireland about Home Rule, many Irishmen who enter the British Army with political motivations have different goals and opposing ideas about Ireland’s governance. Notably, Willie has no political motivations for joining the war, nor does he have his own opinion about Home Rule. However, his father is a staunch unionist, considering his distaste for the nationalist politician John Redmond and his loyalty to Britain.
Themes
Since he’s too short to be a policeman, Willie signs up to be a soldier. When he tells his father he has joined the army, his father weeps. Willie’s sisters Maud and Annie are excited for Willie, but Dolly cries when she hears that Willie is leaving. All her life, Willie has been the one to mother her.
Willie, Maud, and Annie all have naïvely optimistic perceptions of what it means to be a soldier. In contrast, Willie’s father feels sorrow because he fears for his son’s life. Dolly’s tears emphasize how important Willie is to his family. Willie has been a loving caretaker to his sisters, and his absence from home will be painful for them.
Themes
In December 1914, soon after his 18th birthday, Willie writes a letter home to his father. With the rest of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Willie has been in Cork marching and training with pretend bayonets. In his letter, Willie recalls to his father how he once learned “Ave Maria” by Schubert for a singing competition. He memorized the two verses, but he never realized that there was a piano interlude between them, so he stumbled during his performance. Willie wonders why he keeps thinking of that memory.
Willie’s memory of the singing competition serves as a metaphor for his current situation as a new soldier. Young Willie believed he could sing the “Ave Maria” well, but he was actually unprepared for his performance. Likewise, Willie now believes that his training has made him ready for war. In reality, however, Willie is not prepared to face the horrors of war, which he can’t yet even imagine.
Themes
The new year arrives, and the new Irish recruits finish their training. They’ve heard that soldiers from both sides of the trenches sang “Silent Night” together on Christmas, so they think the war doesn’t “sound so bad at all.” The new recruits soon depart from Dublin, emboldened by the cheering crowds and expecting to return home triumphantly in a few weeks.
The new soldiers’ bold confidence demonstrates their ignorance about the terrible reality of war. In their youth and lack of experience, they look forward to easy battles and swift victories because they naively think of war as a heroic adventure.
Themes
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Willie, his new friends Williams and Clancy, and the other Irish soldiers travel by train through England. People in small villages cheer them on as they pass, and Williams jokingly remarks that they must not know the soldiers are Irish. Willie doesn’t understand that the villagers might cheer less for Irish soldiers.
Willie’s fellow soldiers are much more aware of anti-Irish sentiments in Britian than Willie is. In contrast to his peers, Willie is less conscious of political and social tensions between England and Ireland, which characterizes him as relatively ignorant and naïve about the world.
Themes
The new soldiers arrive in France, and Willie is enchanted by the foreign landscape. He sits in a transport with Williams, Clancy, and their company sergeant-major Christy Moran. Willie is comforted by the news that their platoon leader, Captain Pasley, is a young man from a respected family in Wicklow. As the transport brings him closer to the war, Willie feels proud, strong, healthy, and tall. With increasing euphoria, he imagines that the good men of the world will swiftly drive back the evil enemy with glorious victory. But, suddenly, fear descends on Willie, and he vomits in the transport to his comrades’ dismay.
Willie’s childlike awe at seeing a foreign land for the first time and his visions of glory both showcase Willie’s youthful naivety. Willie’s trust in his fellow soldiers contributes to his sudden burst of confidence. However, arriving in France brings the reality of war closer to Willie in a frightening way. Although he doesn’t know what to expect, Willie feels an ominous terror, suggesting that war is something to fear and dread, not celebrate.
Themes
The new soldiers enter their trenches in Belgium. Willie feels immensely small compared to the presence of death and the sound of bombs hitting the earth. He trembles during the bombardment.
As soon as Willie fully enters the fighting on the Western Front, he comes face to face with death and learns that war is terrifying, senseless violence. The experience instills Willie with fear and crushes his earlier naivety about the glory of war.
Themes
Later in the evening, after the bombardment, Willie’s platoon sits around a brazier listening to Christy Moran’s mutterings. By filling the silence, Christy brings some comfort to the listeners, distracting them from their fear. The sergeant-major talks about his hatred for the British army and the irony of fighting for the King of England when England has long oppressed Ireland. The other soldiers know Christy could get shot for his gruff speech, but they’re fond of him anyway.
Telling stories helps the soldiers deal with the mental and emotional impacts of enduring trench warfare. Conversing also helps them build camaraderie with one another. As Christy airs his grievances about the British Empire’s historical oppression of Ireland, he highlights how belonging to the British Army could be a particularly complicated and difficult issue for an Irish soldier.
Themes
Later, the company learns that the most recent bombardment destroyed the supply trenches. As a result, the rations of soup, rum, and tobacco are gone, and the men in the supply party are all dead.
The violence of war results in the loss of countless lives. Meanwhile, the soldiers who survive are left to grieve their comrades’ deaths while also enduring terror and hunger.
Themes
