In Our Time Study Guide

Summary and Analysis of L'Envoi

"L'Envoi"

This final vignette is told by a first-person narrator who walks through a garden with the king and is introduced him to the queen. The king orders whiskey and soda and tells the narrator that the revolutionary committee will not let him outside the palace grounds. He says that Plastiras is a good man who did the right thing in shooting those men. If Kerensky had a shot a few people, things could have been different. The most important thing is, obviously, not to be shot oneself.

The narrator says that this was a very "jolly" time. Like all Greeks at the time, he wanted to go to America.

Analysis

The most striking part of this short final vignette is the king's distance from death and violence. He talks about these things like mere academic subjects. His social status contrasts with the other figures in the book, suggesting the detachment of politicians and dignitaries, who declare and manage a war, from those who actually fight in the war. The king normally does not have to suffer war's devastating consequences.