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Chapter 4
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
Willie’s company is allowed to rest for a few days in Amiens. One night, Willie and Pete O’Hara go out to a café, where they drink beer with other private soldiers until they’re drunk. All the while, Willie thinks about Gretta and how much he wishes she would write to him. He also feels the image of Captain Pasley’s dead face hanging over him.
Willie seeks comfort in alcohol and companionship with his fellow soldiers. However, he can’t drown out his distress over how much he misses Gretta and Captain Pasley. War has separated him from both of these people, albeit in different ways, and Willie loves and grieves for them both intensely.
Themes
Two beautiful girls dance with Willie and O’Hara, leading them into a different room. Willie falls onto a mattress and gazes up at his dance partner, who he thinks is as beautiful as a goddess. Belatedly, Willie realizes the two women are sex workers. He and O’Hara have sex with the women. Then Willie falls asleep, and when he awakes, O’Hara wants to leave, having realized the woman he slept with has a long rash down her leg. Willie and O’Hara return to their billet.
Willie’s naivety and sentimentality show through his first sexual experience. Willie idealizes the woman he sleeps with, viewing her as a divine beauty, similarly to how he thinks of Gretta as a beautiful angel. Overall, this scene represents another way in which Willie transitions from youth into adulthood during his time as a soldier.
Themes
In January 1916, Willie writes a letter to Gretta from Belgium. He describes his experience in the war in lighthearted terms without mentioning the great suffering he’s endured. At the end of the letter, he calls Gretta “an angel in the high sky” and says that he often dreams of her bright figure kissing him. He finishes the letter but wonders if he should have mentioned the sex worker he slept with in Amiens. A few days later, O’Hara has contracted a sexually transmitted disease, but Willie luckily has not.
Once again, Willie displays his tendency to idealize women as angels. Nevertheless, Willie yearns for genuine connection with Gretta. His love for her is a source of brightness and joy in his otherwise grim world on the Western Front. At the same time, Willie’s confusion about whether he should address his recent sexual encounter demonstrates his naïve uncertainty about how to navigate his relationship with Gretta.
Themes
Willie’s company is stationed at the front line again. One morning, while Willie drinks his tea, a new recruit raises his head above the trench and gets shot in the eye. He falls back, still alive, and lies there screaming for hours until the Royal Army Medical Corps takes him away on a stretcher. Afterward, Willie feels a cold despair. He thinks some wounded soldiers should be put out of their misery like injured horses rather than be left to suffer, because it’s cruelty—not love—to let people experience such pain.
The new recruit’s drawn-out suffering is a horrific example of the brutal violence of war. Willie’s response might seem overly cold and unempathetic at first glance. However, his idea about putting injured soldiers out of their misery grows out of the despair he feels at how much pain the war causes. Willie’s hopelessness reflects his trauma and disillusionment with the cruel reality of war.
Themes
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Several weeks later, Christy Moran informs Willie that he’ll soon be granted a few days of home leave. Christy is as happy about this as if he himself were going on furlough. He tells Willie to try and stay alive until he gets to go home.
Christy genuinely cares about Willie’s safety and happiness. The men’s shared experiences of war have brought them close together. Moreover, Christy draws strength and comfort from his friendship with Willie, exemplifying how camaraderie helps soldiers get through the war.
Themes
