Alec gets jerry a change of clothes and puts him to bed to warm him up. He also gives him brandy. Sergeant Barry enters before Alec can leave. Pg Barry calls for two soldiers and Jerry is carried away. Pg Alec is summoned to Glendinning. Alec refers to his uniform as fancy dress and Glendinning strikes him with his cane.
Pg Major Glendinning suggests Alec is the one pushing him to these measures. Glendinning tells Alec that there will be a push in the front line and that he has no desire to punish him at the moment as it would be bad for moral. Pg Glendinning tells Alec that Jerry has been sentenced to death. Alec and Glendinning argue on the value of human life. Alec is told he will command the firing squad. Pg Alec suggests he will not do it and Major Glendinning says it will not help Jerry and only bring shame on his family.
Pg Glendinning tells Alec to command his men to shoot straight in the interest of humanity. Alec goes to the prison to see Jerry. Alec brings Jerry a drink. Jerry asks if death will be bad. Pg Alec asks Jerry if he saw they priest. Alec gets Jerry talking about their time together. Alec talks about the feel of the gun in his hand.
Pg Jerry tells Alec that they took his laces and his belt. Alec asks Jerry to sing. Alec takes the gun out of his pocket as Jerry looks out the window. Jerry has tears in his eyes. So I say nothing. The guns throb constantly and louder up the line.
The building trembles. Because I am an officer and a gentleman they have not taken away my bootlaces or my pen, so I sit and wait and write.
You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Pg 76 Jerry and Bennett meet and exchange pleasantries. Pg 78 They head back.
Pg79 They talk about their reasons for joining the war. They chase after a fox. Pg 85 They drink tea with rum and Alec gets ready to go on his rounds. Pg 96 Bennett is dismissive of Alec and his home rule idea. Bennett wants to grow a moustache. Pg 98 They race the horses but Alec trots behind. They decide to go to a bar. Pg Jerry tells the others that he is a Republican. Pg They drink and get up to leave. Pg The next morning Glendinning gets the men to be ready to leave for the front at ten.
Pg They go back to the front. Alec does his rounds and then Jerry visits. Pg Glendinning arrives that night and orders tea. Pg Alec and Glendinning go over the trenches to find the man. Pg They head back to rest on the fourth day. Pg Jerry arrives to talk to Alec and helps him take off his boots as another soldier enters. Pg Alec tells us that Glendinning had them working hard on drills. This poignancy is more effective because the reader of the novel suspects that the reunion will be short-lived:.
He threw an arm across my shoulders and we lay in silence. My warmth was spreading through him, but the hand that clasped the back of my neck was still cold as a stone fresh from the sea. When Jerry is found he is put into the detention camp where Alec visits him to carry out the greatest test to their friendship and love. They reminisce about their youthful dreams and ambitions. Jerry confesses for the last time that he loves his country above his king.
It seems an odd thing to say before death but it is important to remember its symbolic significance. For Jerry, his country encompasses more than the nationalist cause, more than the land itself; it reflects his belief about the brutality of war, the uselessness of it. This novel fits into the category of social realism.
It is a story which is extremely true to life. Johnston does not over-exaggerate her plot or stretch it beyond the bounds of credibility. It is a novel based firmly in an actual time and place in history. Her main characters belong to clearly defined social backgrounds, the Anglo Irish gentry and the Catholic underclass of Ireland in the early s.
Both men are accurately drawn as they each possess certain qualities of their respective backgrounds. The bigotries which attempt to divide them both at home and on the battlefield are all too real in the novel. It is, therefore, a book rooted in reality. In many respects, the novel takes on the form of an autobiography. It could also be said to be a confessional work. It begins with an officer alone in his room, about to face death by firing squad and he is writing his last thoughts.
Therefore, the novel is told in flashback. The novel is presented strictly in chronological order with only a few slight references to the past, as Jerry and Alec at times of depression or crisis look back longingly to the good times they spent together in the Irish countryside.
It is divided into two distinct settings: Ireland and France. It is a simply structured but completely effective novel with a plot that is uncomplicated and direct. She does not waste words on rambling descriptions nor does she overuse images for exaggerated effect. This makes her images all the more memorable when she does use them. Clarity is her main strength. She describes her characters and the action in the plot in a concise condensed manner. The rushes bowed to her as a little rippling wind stirred through them.
A thousand green pikemen bowing. It heaved uncomfortably and its blackness was broken from time to time by tiny figures of white, mistakes. Their conversations were always the same, like some terrible game, except that unlike normal games, the winner was always the same.
They never raised their voices, the words dropped malevolent and cool from their well-bred mouths. The emptiness of the Irish landscape and the emptiness of the inhabitants of the Big House are matched by the desolation of the war fields.
Johnston introduces a vivid comparison when she introduces war for the first time. Not a prolonged scream, it rose and fell, faded, deteriorated into a babbling from time to time and then occasionally there was silence.
During the silence you could never forget the scream, only wait for it to start again. The men hated the sound as much as I. You could see the hate on their faces. Johnston also uses symbols to good effect in the novel. At intervals in the book, the swan is used as a symbol of loyalty and eternal friendship.
Alec and Jerry share a common love and respect for swans as they begin to know each other. Swans reappear in Flanders, both literally and metaphorically. At times of crisis as the men struggle to endure the hardship of the war, they remember the swans in the few rare glimpses the reader gets of the past.
This symbolises the imminent death of Jerry as the bond of friendship between him and Alec is about to be severed. Another literary device favoured by Johnston is the use of rhyme and poetry at crucial moments. How many miles to Babylon? Four score and ten, sir Will I get there by candlelight? Yes and back again sir.
This was a rhyme that Alec learned innocently as a child and it comes back to haunt him as an adult. As children, Alec introduces Jerry to Yeats on the shore of the lake:. Rose of all roses, Rose of all the world And heard ring The bell that calls us on; the sweet far thing. In contrast to this, Yeats reappears in a very different situation. Here he is experiencing his strongest emotional test and it is significant that he turns to Yeats for help.
I love no living person. While Alec quotes the poetry of Yeats, Jerry uses a different kind of rhyme to show his dedication to the Republican cause:. Now father bless me and let me go To die if God has ordered so. Humour is sparse in the novel and when used it is often grim. It is evident on the morning when Alec leaves for the war and it is used by the soldiers at moments of stress to lighten their moods. Dialogue is used sparingly and it is often loaded with inferences particularly in the relationship between Alec and his parents.
The absence of words only illustrates the lack of communication within the family. Dialogue is not favoured by Major Glendinning who uses short, sharp sentences. How Many Miles to Babylon? Read Time:. Wikipedia - How Many Miles to Babylon? Reviews in The Guardian display a strong grasp of the subject matter, and are able to analyze whether the book accomplished its goal.
Reviews tend to be written in a professional, detached voice and provide detailed coverage of the content included. Estimated Read Time : 1 minute. Barnes and Noble reviews tend to be detailed and literary, with a brief plot synopsis combined with an analysis of the themes, historical and cultural context, and literary devices used.
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