Historicity of Generals Die in Bed Essay

In the novel, Generals die in bed, Charles Yale Harrison explores the theme of war in the context of world war one period. During this period, nations across the world were fighting each for power and domination, and millions of innocent lives were lost and properties destroyed. Harrison uses unnamed 18 years old Canadian soldier to tell the horrors of the period. The young soldier is among Canadian forces deployed to fight Germans in European soil. The narrator's life changes to a hotbed of misery when his friends die one by one fighting the Germans. The experience of the narrator brings to light key event and issues of the 20th century Canada. An analogy can be made between the struggles of the rich and the poor Canadians, and the generals and young soldiers fighting in miserable conditions of trench warfare. Also, Harrison's text has no female soldier but depicts women role to that of easing troubles of fighting. This was the same situation facing women before and during the world war until political reforms were implemented. Thus, the parallelism of events in Harrison's novella and events taking place in Canada during world war one confirms the historicity of the text.

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The First World War broke out when Canada was struggling with an economic slump. In the summer of 1914, Canada was fighting against protective tariff and transportation issues following three years of drought and crop problems. These failures are to blame for hunger experienced throughout Canada during the war. The problem was even worse for families with a quarter sections of land. The failure of the economy to provide food is what Harrison describes in the novel as the real enemy of people. He states that 'we have learned who our enemies are-the lice, some of our officers' death." .The author further creates a scene to show how hunger forced soldiers to each other over a piece of bread. Their problems are also displayed when they go against military codes and standards by looting deserted French villages, stealing food, destroying properties, breaking into churches and setting houses on fire. The war inflicted hunger and turned men out of boys.

The wealthy class has been blamed for damaging the well-being of women and children by contributing to lack of food. During First World War, the British state imposed a blockade against Germany with the intention of halting all imports into the country. Hunger was used as a weapon of war .The blockade is partly to blame for severe deprivation of people of nutritional inequalities between people of different social classes. As the war waged on, weariness and declining enlistment were noted. Like the narrator in the novel, Canadian later came to realize the full consequences of world war when all aspects of their lives were impacted. They shared similar experiences to that of the narrator, who noted that Canada had not only sacrificed enough soldiers but had also, resulted in new political views and order. For example, manufacturing industries and agriculture at home in Canada needed workers to produce foodstuffs to feed not only the soldiers but also the entire Canadian population affected by the war.

The narrators observe the deplorable conditions of soldiers fighting for the wealthy industrialists and elites who saw a means to benefit from the war. One of the most common causes of food shortage is drought and human conflicts. In conflict, instability interferes with production system of agriculture, halting markets and supply networks that deliver food to the people. This was the case observed by Harrison through the experience of soldiers. 'Any man that'll steal another man's bread...they rush at each other again. Again we pull them apart". This statement shows how miserable the patriotic soldiers had become due to World War 1. The narrator further laments the treacherous behavior of the political machinery fuelling war, ' and they're all praying to God tonight for the war to last forever while we're riding in this goddammed lorry...maybe they're making money out it. They don't think of it the way do . As a consequence, the increasing list of war casualties started threatening voluntary recruitment that had gained roots in 1916.

The suffering and oppression Canadian soldiers faced during the war, and the lives lost while generals waited to die at an old gave in their beds, can be linked to the relationship that existed between Canada and her mother country. The narrator was among the young patriots who gave their lives for a purpose they deemed worthy and honorable. To them, fighting for Canada and Great Britain, in general, was a noble task ad an act of loyalty. However, Harrison shows that the young fighters were deceived. In reality, they were risking their lives, not for their mother country as they believed, but for the generals who only gave orders and deployed fighters without engagement. Harrison introduces Captain Clark, a bold and imperial English character who embodies the authority of an oppressive regime. He depicts the abusive and one-sided power of typical European governments before the First World War. He calls one of the patriotic soldiers a 'disgrace to the company' because his uniform looked impoverished (33). As the narrator, Clarke is among the atrocities but less privileged Canadians ready to fight and die for the country. The narrator came to the full realization that the motives for the war were far from his assumptions.

Harrison came to reflect the horrors caused by fighting and cursed the social, political machinery that provided the impetus for First World War. Harrison suggests that the narrator was emancipated from the political and religious dogma that fuelled the war. He realized his real enemies were not the German, but the system that deployed him to war. This emancipation parallels political changes in Canada in the context of the world war period. After showing their love and loyalty to the British Empire, Canadians realized they needed more freedom and autonomy. Post-War Canada was characterized by emancipation from the mother country, as seen in the 1919 demands made by Canadian Prime Minister, Sir Robert Boden. After the war, the prime minister demanded that Britain not only recognizes the efforts of Canada but also respect its free position. Canada later signed the treaty of Versailles to end the war and assumed a non-committed role in the League of Nations

The role of women in national conflicts has changed dramatically before and after the First World War. This change has well been reflected in Harrison's novel as well as in actual events in the Canadian nation. Like typical societies of the pre-war period, women's role in the armed conflict was highly restricted. Systems of social control were still founded on traditional patriarchal regime were women were given lesser roles. Harrison seems to understand this concept clearly by not using armed female soldiers in the Canadian army that fight Germans. The team that left for Europe had no female characters, just like it was in most parts of the actual war. The representation of women as lesser to men is shown through the role of Glady's, a young female prostitute with whom the narrator shares an intimate relationship. Also, as most men were out fighting, women took men's role and henceforth, achieved a lot of feminism goals.

Charles Yale's novella is a reflection of the social, political injustices that shaped events of the 20th century. The author laments the use of war to achieve national goals, but also notes that through war, specific changes in the society cannot be obtained. The institution of social control use ideologies that re-established class struggles by polarizing members into the rich and the poor categories. The plot of the novel begins with an established order that commits atrocities through wars, but the author slowly critiques these institutions through the life of the narrator. The book incorporates the theme of class struggle and the oppression of the poor by the ruling regime. However, the ruling class has hidden intentions and use war for personal gains. Generals die in bed identifies this theme, since the generals took no compromising positions in the war. Instead, the patriotic and young Canadians were put in lines of danger characterized by trenches filled with lice and rats. Most of these generals were British representing the Great British Empire and its monarch in Europe. The unavailability of these patriotic men to run industries and other roles at home changed the position of women worldwide.

Bibliography

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Harrison, Charles Yale. Generals die in bed. Random House, 2011.

Harrison, Mark, ed. The economics of World War II: six great powers in international comparison. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

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