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Chapter 19
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
The next day, Willie walks to the train station in Dublin. He feels weary and drained of his youth. He’s also sad to see the destruction in the city that hasn’t yet been repaired. When Willie crosses paths with a group of young boys, one of them throws a stone at him. The boys call him a Tommie (slang for a British soldier) and tell him to go home. Willie retorts that he is home.
After being driven apart from his family and Gretta, Willie feels that he has lost his vitality. His most important relationships, like the city of Dublin itself, are in a state of ruin. Additionally, Willie is now unwelcome in his own home for being a soldier in the British Army. Willie’s uniform and perceived loyalty to England alienate him from other Irish people at a time when Willie already feels alone.
Themes
Willie gets off the train at Tinahely, where the Pasleys live. He wants to visit Captain Pasley’s family and pay them his respects. Willie asks directions from a rector, who speaks warmly to him, and Willie almost weeps at the rector’s kindness. As he approaches the Pasleys’ house, Willie berates himself for showing up without prior notice or a plan for what he’ll say.
Willie still feels a strong attachment of love, admiration, and grief to Captain Pasley, so he wants to honor the captain’s memory. The rector’s goodwill offers Willie a brief moment of human compassion and connection, which greatly benefits Willie in his loneliness.
Themes
Willie knocks at the kitchen door, and Margaret Pasley—Captain Pasley’s mother—welcomes him inside for tea. Willie struggles to know what he should tell her about her son, remembering the awful way in which Captain Pasley died. Willie’s eyes fill with tears. He thinks himself a fool for trying to comfort Captain Pasley’s parents. Yet Margaret is sympathetic to Willie. She understands that Willie misses Captain Pasley, and she’s glad to see how much her son meant to him. Willie is overwhelmed with sorrow that so many of his comrades have died, leaving him to go on living without them.
Willie is overwhelmed by his grief and trauma from the war. He dearly misses his fallen comrades, especially Captain Pasley, and it pains him deeply that he has survived while other men he loved were killed. Through his grief, Willie is able to connect to Margaret, and this connection brings some comfort to her.
Themes
Later, Captain Pasley’s father comes in from working in the fields and takes Willie to the cemetery where Captain Pasley has a gravestone. The gravestone honors young George Pasley for dying “in the empire’s service,” and Willie gathers that the Pasley family is not in favor of Home Rule. Willie stands in silence with Mr. Pasley, comforting him.
Willie exhibits his newly developing political consciousness when he identifies that the Pasleys are unionists like his father. Although Willie has started to distance himself from his father’s beliefs, Willie doesn’t let this realization about the Pasleys’ allegiance to Britain prevent him from connecting to Mr. Pasley. Instead, Willie shares in Mr. Pasley’s grief, offering his own compassion and empathy to Captain Pasley’s father.
Themes
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At the end of his furlough, Willie is about to board a train to leave Dublin when he hears Dolly calling out to him. Maud and Annie have taken her to the station to say goodbye to Willie. Surprised and moved, Willie hugs and kisses Dolly goodbye.
Being reminded of Dolly’s innocent love comforts Willie, reassuring him that he isn’t truly alone. Willie’s family relationships aren’t perfect, but they can still bring him joy at important moments.
Themes
