In Evelyn Waugh’s “Sword of Honor” trilogy, the character Guy Crouchback has married a glamorous, but promiscuous woman. In doing so, he echoes the heroism of Hosea, who pictures God’s own faithfulness to his promiscuous people. The true sword of honor is not military glory, but Guy’s noble action of forgiveness.

To illuminate and inspire my desire to write fiction, I have been reading books on the craft of fiction, as well as more novels. I admit to not having much interest in the craft of fiction. Apart from basic observations, the subtleties of Henry James’ technique or an analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s or Hemingway’s style leave me cold. I’d much rather re-read my favorites and absorb the lessons intuitively. Too much attention to technique may result in an artificial mannerism. Better to simply aim to tell a ripping yarn.

Consequently I turned once more to Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honor trilogy. From a critical point of view, and at first or second reading, one has the impression that Waugh’s storytelling is uneven. He scores points for his satire and pithy farce, and his characters are funny, believable, pathetic and noble. However, the minutiae of military life and army jargon do not seemed to have aged well, and the detailed account of military life weighs down the narrative. As Second World War novels go, this is no rumbustious Alistair McClean thriller. The cowards and cads outnumber the heroes, and what heroes there are, are uproariously ridiculous. The battle scenes are accounts of chaotic mis-management, cynical self-interest, and bureaucratic incompetence.

The wearisome grind of Waugh’s war story does, however, take the reader into what must be one of the most realistic aspects of going to war: the interminable waiting around, the absurdity of military discipline, the ridiculous egotism of officers, and the frustrating necessity of accepting that one is manacled by absurd regulations and that stupid people are in charge. As such it is a good preparation for life in general.

Now, on a third reading, perhaps a re-assessment of the military aspect of The Sword of Honor trilogy is in order, but first let us consider the much more intriguing sub-plot. On the surface this is a story of Guy Crouchback’s experiences in the laughably inept British army. Below lies Guy’s personal insecurities, his failed marriage to Virginia and his hesitant Catholic faith. He patriotically steps up to volunteer for the army despite being too old for regular duty. He does so out of regard for an ancestor who was a failure of a knight in one of the crusades.

His marriage to the dazzling socialite Virginia has ended in divorce, and she has gone on to marry twice more and is in the throes of a divorce to her wealthy American husband. As a Catholic he still regards Virginia as his wife, and after a disastrous tryst in a London hotel, she spurns him scornfully. As the war grinds on, Virginia falls into a relationship with Trimmer—a scoundrel who was part of Guy’s company. Due to the absurdities of war, Trimmer ends up as a propaganda-created war hero, while Guy soldiers on in the fiascos of the Crete and Balkan campaigns.

Eventually Virginia finds herself penniless after being divorced by her American financier, and pregnant by Trimmer. She searches unsuccessfully for an abortionist. Then suddenly in need of  a husband, she turns to Guy, who is recuperating from battle, and in a most movingly understated scene, Guy takes her back. They are re-married, and he takes Trimmer’s son as his heir.

This, of course, is Waugh’s real story. Guy Crouchback, like the prophet Hosea, has married a glamorous, but promiscuous woman. Guy’s father “old Crouchback” comments drily, “poor Guy. He married a bad ‘un.” Indeed. Virginia’s various liaisons have proved very dangerous. Her unfaithfulness wrecked both her and Guy’s life. She crouches back to him, and his willingness to have her back despite her dalliances elevates him to the level of heroism that his wartime experiences never granted him. In doing so, he echoes the heroism of Hosea, who pictures God’s own faithfulness to his promiscuous people. The true sword of honor is not military glory, but Guy’s noble action of forgiveness.

The underlying moral plot illuminates the tedium of the rest of Waugh’s story. Guy’s relationship with Virginia runs through the story like a dark thread, and we see what Waugh has been up to. Beneath the outward plot—in this case the Second World War—the plot line of the destiny of human souls is playing out, and the sheer absurdity and futility of the surface plot is emphasized by the intensity and importance of Guy’s affaire de coeur.

“This is what matters,” Waugh is telling us. Whether the allies win the war, whether the British are humiliated, or the Nazis defeated is secondary. Guy’s forgiveness of Virginia and his acceptance of the scoundrel Trimmer’s son as his own is what matters. As Old Crouchback would say, “Quantitative judgements don’t apply.”

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The featured image is “A Cockney Soldier” (1944) and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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