42 pages • 1 hour read
Charles Yale HarrisonGenerals Die In Bed
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1930A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Mud
The ever-present mud of No Man’s Land and in the trenches serves as an important motif in the literature of WWI and in Generals Die in Bed specifically. The constant shelling, gunfire, and bombardment leave the landscape barren and devoid of vegetation. Winter in northern Europe is often rainy, and during the war years of 1914 to 1918, Europe has excessive rain. As a result, battlefields and trenches become deeply muddy, exacerbated by the wheels of carts, tires of motorized vehicles, and horses’ hooves. No Man’s Land is the muddiest and most dangerous area in a soldier’s life. Men forced to charge across No Man’s Land cannot move quickly—the mud sucks at their boots or causes them to slip and fall. Sometimes the mud takes their boots or men drown in muddy craters filled with rainwater. The motif of mud serves to underscore the horror of war amidst such dreadful living conditions.
The mud also serves a symbolic function. After the initial battles of the war, the forces on both sides become bogged down in the stalemate of trench warfare. Thus, the mud symbolizes the war itself, which is slowly depriving men of their health and lives while enabling no clear victory. Just as the armies are stuck in literal mud, the narrator and his fellows are stuck in their situation as foot soldiers. There is no escape from the mud in their living quarters, on the battlefield, or in the growing darkness of their own minds.
The Color Green
Harrison employs the color green, sometimes termed “sickly green” or “yellowish green,” as a motif throughout the novel to illustrate the physical and mental deterioration of the soldiers and The Psychological Impact of Combat. As the recruits go off to war, they are “green under the gills” (6), with “green” referring to their lack of experience. When the men are hiding in the dugout during an intense bombardment, Broadbent’s face is green just before he vomits. When Broadbent receives a mortal wound, the narrator says, “His face is a dirty white—it is turning green” (148). Thus, throughout the novel, green indicates that a soldier is unwell mentally or physically, and often green presages death. Moreover, during WWI, the color yellowish green was universally associated with poisonous gas, a technological advancement in warfare and a particularly feared and nefarious weapon.
Finally, the color green is often associated with youth, fecundity, and ecological wellness in Western culture. By using green as a motif throughout Generals Die in Bed, Harrison ironically comments on a world turned upside down. The world he describes is one of death and destruction, a world turned into a wasteland.
Flowers
Harrison draws on flowers as a symbol for fallen soldiers. In the opening chapter, as the recruits march toward the trains, Canadian civilians throw flowers at them: “Flowers are tossed into the marching ranks […] Drunken spiked heels crush roses and cigarettes underfoot” (4). That the marching soldiers crush the flower petals suggests that these men will also be crushed by the horrors and impact of the war.
Likewise, Harrison mentions poppies, a bright red flower, several times in the novel. The red poppies symbolize the blood of the men who died during the war. In the novel, the poppies also provide a direct allusion to Canadian poet John Macrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields,” which describes the poppies growing on the soldiers’ tombstones and that has since become a symbol of Remembrance Day in Commonwealth countries. Thus, the symbolism of the flowers resonates not only in Generals Die in Bed but also through Canadian history and culture.
Rats
In Generals Die in Bed, rats make a frequent appearance in the trenches. Harrison uses the rats to demonstrate how terrible the living conditions are for the men. He also uses the rats to symbolize The Dehumanization of Common Soldiers, who are forced to live like rats in a warren of trenches, scrabbling for whatever food they can find. Soldiers who manage to survive the war often do so by placing their own survival above all else. Rather than behaving heroically or in support of their comrades, they look out for themselves. Rats are opportunistic and do what is necessary to continue their survival. The rats thus help illustrate the ironic contrast between the heroic myths of war and the real horrors of war and combat.
