Paragraph Analysis - Birdsong:Part 2

"The second hand of his watch in slow motion. Twenty-nine past. The whistle in his mouth. His foot on the ladder. He swallowed hard and blew.
He clambered out and looked around him. It was for a moment completely quiet as the bombardement ended and the German guns also stopped. Skylarks wheeled and sang high in the cloudless sky. He felt alone, as though he had stumbled on this fresh world at the instant of its creation.
Then the artillery began to lay down the first barrage and the German machine guns resumed. To his left Stephen saw men trying to emerge from the trench but being smashed by bullets before they could stand. The gaps in the wire became jammed with bodies."
(Page 225-226)

In this section Faulks beautifully captures the emotions of Stephen, and the feeling and change of the world around him immediately before the attack. We are taken from slow motion, to completely still, to sudden action when the chaotic reality ensues.

At the beginning, time seems to slow down, and this is parallelled in the writing because of the short sentences and the absence of verbs in them. These 5 statements take us step by step through Stephen's pre-battle checklist, and give us an insight into his mind. Going through these simple things slowly and detached was probably a way to cope with the huge amount of stress and the nervousness he would have been feeling. We can tell he is under immense pressure because he swallows hard, as if he is steadying himself one last time before climbing into unfamiliar circumstances.

The second section uses longer, more complex sentences which is juxtaposed with the previous one. The way this paragraph decribes no mans land makes it feel as if time has slowed down even more, to a still and silent moment in time. This move from sharp, short phrases to longer descriptive sentences perhaps portrays how surreal the situation was for the soldiers, and their mixed emotions because of it. This paragraph in particular presents humans in a negative light, 'clambered' and 'stumbled' in contrast to the wheeling and singing of the skylarks, this becomes particularly apparent as the battle commences and we see fully the disaster that was the Battle of the Somme. The 'fresh world' the Stephen encounters could be understood as the calm before the storm perhaps, or taken ironically to suggest this mass slaughter that is about to happen is a whole new world, created by man. This is why the birdsong is so important, because it contrasts so awfully to the carnage about to take place beneath.

Finally, the last paragraph moves more quickly as it describes the beginnings of the battle. The verbs 'jammed' and 'smashed' denote action, however they are terribly negative, not at all the victorious triumph that was expected. This sudden jump from stillness to horrific action is a harrowing juxtaposition that highlights the ridiculousness and horror that this battle was.

Jack Firebrace

Jack Firebrace is a 38 year old, working class man from London, mining underground in the trenches toward the enemy line. He signed up in order to make more money to support his wife, Margaret, and his son, John, because they didn't have enough income. Obviously his preconception that he would return within the year, and the life wouldn't be that tough is shattered, and we can see how distressing life in the trenches actually is for Jack. This shows us how he is a representational character for a vast amount of the men at the time. Jack gets extremely nostalgic after receiving a letter from his wife, and he realises how far away from home he really is - especially when underground with only the darkness and opressive soil for company. He tries not to develop strong relationships with any of the men, because of how often they die. For example, when we are first introduced to his character 2 of the men he is underground with are straight away blown up by a shell. It is here that we learn that Jack believes himself to be 'immune to death' but he therefore gains empathy from the reader, as he is lonely and homesick. In contrast to the cold Stephen Wraysford, who is reintroduced in Part II as a Captain, the reader likes Jack - who is funny, often the joker asked to perform stand up or conjuring tricks when out at the billets, so he is well liked by the other men also. We feel empathy for him because his son is ill, and eventually dies, and there is nothing he can do about it, because his wife is lonely and obviously struggling to cope without him, and because we know that his life at home is not a good quality; we learn that some of the food he eats in the trenches is better than he is able to provide for his wife and son. His position is sad, so we naturally have pity for him. There is a constant underlying theme throughout the narrative surrounding Jack of religion. He often prays to God to be saved from the war and to go home, and in prayer we see his feelings emerge. The stark and selfish reality that the men just wanted to be saved and go home, and didn't care about the fates of the other men they served with, is tough, but understandable. It is impossible for us to fully appreciate how harrowing living day to day with death was for the men in the trenches, but Faulks, through Jack, brilliantly portrays the harsh thoughts and emotions of an average man in WWI.

Birdsong

So far I've only read the first 100 pages, and I am surprised by the content. I began the book knowing nothing about what was to come, assuming that it would be all about the war-so far the story has been of a particularly romantic kind, not one mention of war.. This first plotline, of Stephen's affair with Madame Azaire, is really interesting-much more so than I was expecting of a war book! Other than the few explicit scenes, that I've been told are quite incongruous with the rest of the book, the story is fascinating and keeps you reading. However, I've found it quite a slow read, as some of Faulks's descriptions are a bit too much, and I have struggled to get through it - the plot up to now has made up for this though..
Not sure how to end this, I wanted to put something about my expectations for the war section-but to put 'I'm thoroughly looking forward to reading about the war' (or something of the sort) seems a little morbid.. Finished rambling now - bye :)