MBJ Quotes by Theme

Youth and Innocence

(A1S1 7) "I'm doing my best Daddo. I won't let you down." (A1S2 11) JOHN's pince-nez is precariously balanced on his nose (A1S3 21) "[In response to there being no hurry] There is! You see, you don't understand." (A1S6 39) "You can't win. If I take them off, I'm blind as a bat, if I keep them on, it's like looking through a rainy window..." (A2S1 53) "The suffocation, the love, the expectation. That's why he went... to be rid of home... is that an honourable sacrifice?" (A2S3 78b) "Jack was eighteen years and six weeks old. He died in the rain, he couldn't see a thing,"

Masculinity

(A1S1 9) "He is not a boy, he is a young man. If you continue to pamper and paw him, you will turn him into something altogether weak and watery..." (A1S3 23b) "[In contrast to Elsie's intimacy] You must ... buck up and look forwards" (A2S3 66) "it was a great triumph, a great success. I wasn't scared, not at all,"

Family

(A1S3 19) "O best beloved brother" (A1S3 20) "... Be something else for a while. Or, rather, be yourself for a while," (A1S3 23a) "'Daddo' - not him - the word - 'Daddo'. I'm sixteen ... I should have moved on to 'Father' by now... but I can't quite say it" (A1S7 46) "Please God I mustn't let them down." (A2S3 61) "How strange. Why should this be so sad?"

Generational conflict

(A1S3 20) "... Be something else for a while. Or, rather, be yourself for a while," (A1S5 31) "Therefore we must continue to pass our children through fire, until somehow we win and destroy her." (A2S1 51a) "he would have suffered a living death here, ashamed and despised by everyone... he would wish he was dead." (A2S1 53) "The suffocation, the love, the expectation. That's why he went... to be rid of home... is that an honourable sacrifice?" (A2S3 72) "Pleased? No-one's pleased to be there?" (A2S3 78c) "I must 'believe' in order to survive at all"

Naivety

(A1S3 21) "[In response to there being no hurry] There is! You see, you don't understand." (A1S5 31) "Therefore we must continue to pass our children through fire, until somehow we win and destroy her." (A2S1 51c) "Carrie, if by any chance Jack is dead, it would have been the finest moment in his young life. We would not wish him to outlive that." (A2S1 52) "No sacrifice . . . is too great... if we win the day"

Imperialism and Nationalism

(A1S4 25a) "Our English soul will be squashed and squeezed until it cries out in pain." (A1S4 25b) "contaminating our blood... they will teach our bricklayers to lay bricks the German way." (A1S5 30-1) "We have built up, painstakingly built up, a family of nations ... we have managed to combine benevolence and commerce" (A1S5 31) "Therefore we must continue to pass our children through fire, until somehow we win and destroy her." (A2S1 52) "No sacrifice . . . is too great... if we win the day"

Propaganda

(A1S4 25a) "Our English soul will be squashed and squeezed until it cries out in pain." (A1S4 25b) "contaminating our blood... they will teach our bricklayers to lay bricks the German way." (A2S1 51b) "They know we must go forward, willing to sacrifice everything to deliver mankind from evil"

Duty

(A1S4 25c) "every young man who chooses to remain at home be shunned by his community" (A1S5 26) "ELSIE He can't see five yards without his specs. Doesn't it worry you that he may be killed? RUDYARD. That is not the issue." (A1S5 31) "Therefore we must continue to pass our children through fire, until somehow we win and destroy her." (A1S7 46) "Please God I mustn't let them down." (A2S1 51a) "he would have suffered a living death here, ashamed and despised by everyone... he would wish he was dead." (A2S1 51b) "They know we must go forward, willing to sacrifice everything to deliver mankind from evil"

Realism

(A1S5 25d) On and off one can hear, faintly, the sound of the guns in France. (A1S6 39) "You can't win. If I take them off, I'm blind as a bat, if I keep them on, it's like looking through a rainy window..." (A1S7 40) "They want us pissed, Doyle ... they want us to kill off any thoughts o' death eatin' away at our minds." (A2S3 68) "Lyin', watching our blood soak into the chalk." (A2S3 70a) "A game of football! A bunch of arseholes dribblin' a football across no man's land..." (A2S3 70b) "The din is diabolic, so loud you can't hear it," (A2S3 70c) "lyin' on top of a dead man . . . practically kissin' him I'm so close to him." (A2S3 74a) "There's nothin' below his top lip, nothin' at all. He's cryin', tears, cryin' with the pain sir." (A2S3 77) "No, he wasn't lucky. Don't tell me he was lucky, or brave, or happy," (A2S3 78b) "Jack was eighteen years and six weeks old. He died in the rain, he couldn't see a thing,"

Cameraderie

(A1S5 29) "Oh yes, they're good men."

Generals and Soldiers

(A1S5 29) "Oh yes, they're good men." (A2S3 74b) "I didn't want to humiliate him, an officer, by approachin' him while he was cryin'."

Futility

(A1S6 39) "You can't win. If I take them off, I'm blind as a bat, if I keep them on, it's like looking through a rainy window..." (A1S7 43) "Bloody rain ... bloody, bloody, bloody, rain." (A2S3 70a) "A game of football! A bunch of arseholes dribblin' a football across no man's land..." (A2S3 87) "For nothing, for nothing, for nothing."

Sacrifice and slaughter

(A1S7 40) "They want us pissed, Doyle ... they want us to kill off any thoughts o' death eatin' away at our minds." (A2S1 51b) "They know we must go forward, willing to sacrifice everything to deliver mankind from evil" (A2S1 51c) "Carrie, if by any chance Jack is dead, it would have been the finest moment in his young life. We would not wish him to outlive that." (A2S1 52) "No sacrifice . . . is too great... if we win the day" (A2S3 74a) "There's nothin' below his top lip, nothin' at all. He's cryin', tears, cryin' with the pain sir." (A2S3 79b) "[on not knowing of the existence of afterlife] Which is why it is so important that every sacrifice

Guilt

(A2S1 49) "He may very well have strolled into H.Q. by now." (A2S3 56) September 1917 RUDYARD. "Tired, tired to the tiredest degree." (A2S3 59a) "No that's right. You're right, you're right, you're absolutely right, I am unutterably selfish." (A2S3 75) RUDYARD. "He led his men from the front, and was courageous in the face of considerable enemy fire." (A2S3 76) "But he had his heart's desire. So few of us have the opportunity to play our part." (A2S3 78a) "When did I say that?" (A2S3 78c) "I must 'believe' in order to survive at all" (A2S3 79a) "Confess my . . . complicity. Admit that it's all down to me." (A2S3 79b) "[on not knowing of the existence of afterlife] Which is why it is so important that every sacrifice we make has true value," (A2S3 80) Fade on RUDYARD alone.

Glorification

(A2S1 51b) "They know we must go forward, willing to sacrifice everything to deliver mankind from evil" (A2S1 51c) "Carrie, if by any chance Jack is dead, it would have been the finest moment in his young life. We would not wish him to outlive that." (A2S3 75) RUDYARD. "He led his men from the front, and was courageous in the face of considerable enemy fire." (A2S3 76) "But he had his heart's desire. So few of us have the opportunity to play our part." (A2S3 79b) "[on not knowing of the existence of afterlife] Which is why it is so important that every sacrifice we make has true value,"

Responses on the home front

(A2S1 52) "No sacrifice . . . is too great... if we win the day" (A2S3 56) September 1917 RUDYARD. "Tired, tired to the tiredest degree." (A2S3 59b) CARRIE "It's a ray of hope, isn't it?" (A2S3 77) "No, he wasn't lucky. Don't tell me he was lucky, or brave, or happy," (A2S3 78b) "Jack was eighteen years and six weeks old. He died in the rain, he couldn't see a thing,"

Disillusionment

(A2S3 61) "How strange. Why should this be so sad?"

Aftermath

(A2S3 63) "He was very nervous about coming" (A2S3 64) "Jesus, I can't breathe. I can't breathe"