Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon -- Analysis and Themes
Themes Disillusionment with religion: A ludicrous oleograph of our Savior preaching from a boat, which we always referred to as jocular Jesus. … Finally, when with flushed faces we sauntered out into the sunshine, he remarked that he'd half a mind to go and look for a young lady to make his wife jealous. I said that there was always the cathedral to look at, and discovered that I'd unintentionally made a very good joke. Violence and danger lurking around. Audio and visual representations: But on the horizon the bombardment bumped and thudded in a continuous bubbling grumble. … While I lay on the floor in my flea-bag the blackness of the night framed in the window was lit with incessant glare and flash of guns. Innocence corrupted - conceptions of purity shattered by violence: The Seventh Division Battle Plan didn't look aggressively unpleasant on paper as I transcribed it into my note-book. Rose Trench, Orchard Alley, Apple Alley, and Willow Avenue, were among the first obj...