Genre
Young-Adult Fiction.
Setting and Context
Europe around the time of World War I, including England, France, and Belgium.
Narrator and Point of View
Tommo Peaceful, a young man in his late teens, narrates in the first person.
Tone and Mood
The mood is generally somber and filled with dread.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Tommo and Charlie are the protagonists; the antagonists include the Wolfwoman, the Colonel, and Sergeant Hanley.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is World War I. The major personal conflict is between Charlie and various corrupt authority figures.
Climax
The climax of the novel comes when Sergeant Hanley orders Charlie to leave his brother and charge the enemy line and Charlie refuses, thus leading to his execution for desertion.
Foreshadowing
Charlie's arrest for disobeying an order is foreshadowed when Hanley warns him that disobedience is an offense punishable by death.
Understatement
N/A.
Allusions
"Charlie was beginning to be thought of as a bit of a liability in the company, a bit of a Jonah" (page 117). Jonah is a Biblical prophet who tried to escape his role by boarding a ship that was wracked by storms. The other sailors eventually realized that Jonah's presence was causing these problems and they threw him overboard. In a similar manner, Charlie's presence is causing problems for his fellow soldiers because he cannot stop antagonizing Hanley.
Imagery
See the separate "Imagery" section of this ClassicNote.
Paradox
N/A.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the guilt Tommo feels about his role in his father's death and the guilt he feels about Charlie's: they both died trying to save Tommo.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The regiment is used to represent the individual soldiers within it.
Personification
The guns are said to have voices, which personifies inanimate objects and attributes vocalization and intent to them.
