In the novel The Watch That Ends The Night by Hugh Maclennan the characters have an inherent sense that life goes on and no matter what happens mankind must survive. Mankind has always had the instincts to survive. These instincts have allowed humans to pull through no matter what happens. People have persisted through major barriers like being lost in the woods and surviving plane crashes.
Jerome and Catherine Martell have both survived through life’s obstacles with flying colours. Jerome Martell is an enthusiastically ambitious man who was once a great doctor who gave his life for his country. Jerome didn’t die in the war but he did give up his life when he went to battle. Jerome survived the war physically but his life will never be the same.
Catherine is Jerome’s former wife and she has had an enlarged heart her whole life and was never expected to survive more then a couple years. Catherine has survived this handicap by never conceding to others expectations and never giving up on herself. Both Catherine and Jerome have survived the obstacles they have encountered in there life both physically and emotionally. In Jerome’s case he must overcome and survive the war.
Jerome has to physically survive the brutal torture in “Russia and China” (MacLennan 8) and he nearly got “killed in the french underground” (MacLennan 9).
The Essay on Frederick Catherine War Love
A Farewell to Arms The story begins in Gorizia, Italy, the headquarters of Frederick's troop, during World War I. The narrator is Frederick Henry, which is unclear at first. Frederick is an American volunteer in the Ambulance Corps, and a second lieutenant in the Italian Army. A young priest stays with the troop. Everyone but Frederick is Roman Catholic, but he is the only one who respects him. ...
When Jerome was lost in the war his family and friends were told that ” Nazi’s spent two days torturing you and then hung up your body on meat hook.” (MacLennan 9).
But in actuality Jerome’s tragic story is more complex. Jerome wishes it was that easy, death would have been a release from the hell on Earth he had to go through.
Jerome’s battle to survive started when he ” was caught with the Spanish in France in 1939.” (MacLennan 10).
When times were at there worst Jerome still had the intuition to survive and never give up. QUOTE FROM MEN THAT HAVE SURVIVED THE WAR HERE + EXPLANATION AND CONNECTION TO THE THESIS. When a man is faced with his greatest challenge he is at his best and will never give up.
Jerome is emotionally destroyed in the war but his love for his wife and the inherent instinct to survive pushes him on. Jerome’s emotions are put to the test through the entire novel and he handles himself very well considering all he has been through. When Jerome was very young he saw his mother get killed which would permanently scar any other man but not Jerome, he struggled but in the end succeeded. “He was screwing my mother and she said he was no good, so he got mad and he hit her and he killed her.” (MacLennan 207).
Jerome must accept that he is not “a great surgeon.” (MacLennan 121) like he was before the war and will never be that man again. He must also accept that “things have changed” (MacLennan 14) and he can never change them back.
Jerome is a splendid model of mankind’s inherent will to survive physically and emotionally no matter what happens.
