It is clear that Naturalism, or the utter indifference of
nature to the fate of mankind, acts as the major theme of this excellent novel in which
the protagonist, Henry, gradually learns about the true nature of courage and heroism
and how, no matter how brave we are, we will all face the same end. Again and again he
encounters experiences that show to him that the world continues in a way that is
completely unaffected by the manner in which men choose to live and die. Such
experiences show Henry the falsity of his ideas about manhood and
bravery.
One such incident occurs at the end of Chapter
Seven, when Henry comes across a corpse in the woods, whose rotting appearance clearly
acts as a reminder of how nature and the universe is indifferent towards human
existence. Note the appearance of this corpse:
The corpse was dressed in a uniform that once
had been blue but was now faded to a melancholy shade of green. The eyes, staring at the
youth, had changed to the dull hue to be see on the side of a dead fish. The mouth was
open. Its read had changed to an appalling yellow. Over the grey skin of the face ran
little ants. One was trundling up some sort of a bundle along the upper
lip.
The natural way in which
this man's death quickly becomes part of the cycle of nature as it decays and rots
forces Henry to realise that death, in spite of all of his fears and misconceived
notions, is nothing more than an essential yet unremarkable part of
nature.
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