“Here stretch the downs, high and breezy and green, absolutely unchanged since those eventful days. A plough has never disturbed the turf, and the sod that was uppermost then is uppermost now.”
The opening lines of this story to serve the simplest of purposes: situating the geographical setting in which the story takes place. On the surface, these lines seem to suggest little more than that the story takes place somewhere relatively untouched by progress. The events of the story about to be told actually took place nearly a century earlier. During the interim small changes in social structure took place. For instance, the appearance of the uniforms of the British military and the mainstreaming of mustaches. The narrator references how ideas had changed over the period and how inventions had forever altered daily existence for many. These changes specifically referenced by the narrator stand in direct contrast to the turf and never-changing topsoil. While the divine right of kings had undergone a significant revision, the downs look just the same. These opening lines serve a purpose far less directed toward literal description of the setting than to establishing the idea that while society does evolve over time, certain aspects of existence steadfastly hold just as true today as they ever did. The story will pursue one of those unchanging aspects of human existence: the fallacy of free will.
“This account −− though only a piece of hearsay, and as such entitled to no absolute credit −− tallied so well with the infrequency of his letters and their lack of warmth, that Phyllis did not doubt its truth for one moment; and from that hour she felt herself free to bestow her heart as she should choose.”
The narrator is relating a story told to him by Phyllis many years after he heard it. Likewise, it was many years after the events that Phyllis related the story to the narrator. The subtext is that though a significant period of time has passed since the events took place, those events simply retell a story that has played out again and again during the period. The only alterations are in the specific details. The “hearsay” here is that the long-distance fiancé of Phyllis seems to be moving further and further away from actually going through with the marriage. For Phyllis, this is actually good news because she also has become interest in another. Her mistake, however, is in thinking that this unexpectedly development is not just a positive turn of events but one that affords her actual agency. The story plays out as it has so many times before for so many others. Just when someone accepts the illusion that have been given the freedom to do one thing, circumstances suddenly change without warning and their fate is once again ripped from their hands and placed firmly back into the control of others. The message of the story is that this is the status quo for everyone. The only divergence is that a very small group of people get to exercise just a little bit more than average while another very small group of people are denied any opportunity whatever.
“I came here against my will; why should I not escape? Now is the time, as we shall soon be striking camp, and I might see you no more.”
Matthäus Tina is the other man whom Phyllis feels she now has the freedom to marry. He is the title character and his melancholy stems from homesickness. He wants to return to his home in Germany and take Phyllis with him. In order to accomplish this, he must push the limits of acquiring agency over his exercise of free will by making the dangerous decision to become a military deserter. His justification for committing this crime that punishable by execution is explicitly stated in the above quote. And his argument certainly carries a level of moral reasoning. He is basically saying why should he do something he is being forced to do against his will when not doing it will not have harmful consequences. At this point, however, Matthäus has fallen victim to the same illusion as Phyllis in believing that he actually possesses the ability to exert control over his destiny. Emboldened by this false consciousness, he pursues his plan of action only to have his fate taken over the randomness of bad weather and even worse navigational skills.
