In Memoriam

Ellwood finds out at supper that evening that Gaunt has enlisted. He is disappointed that they did not join together. He blames himself for touching Gaunt’s cheek, but he has resisted the urge for years.

After Gaunt does not write for several weeks, Ellwood gets his address from his uncle and writes him a letter. He asks how training is going and apologizes for what happened between them. Gaunt writes back, ignoring his apology, and tells him that training is going well. The two exchange letters over the next few months.

Gaunt tells Ellwood that Maitland is with him on the front line. Gaunt realizes that his annoyance toward Maitland was unwarranted—Maitland, as Captain, helps Gaunt with his patrols.

In February 1913, when Gaunt was 16, he had a sexual relationship with an older student, Sandys. Sandys would always treat him roughly, pinning him against the wall in the hallway and demanding that Gaunt come to his room. After they would have sex, Gaunt would intentionally bruise his own body to make it look as though Sandys was beating him up instead of having sex with him.

In the present, March 1915, Gaunt and Sandys write letters to each other. Gaunt opens up about his feelings for Ellwood, bothered that he still cares for him even with the horrors of war around him. Sandys comforts Gaunt and suggests that he may be better off without the memories of being with Ellwood haunting him. Sandys recently lost a boy he loved, Caruthers, and grieves his death while trying to fight in the war.

In October 1913, Sandys snuck into Gaunt’s room in the middle of the night. Gaunt reacted angrily, thinking that Sandys was there for sex. However, Sandys told him that he had confessed his love to Caruthers, and Caruthers reciprocated. When Gaunt insisted that Sandys shouldn’t talk about such things, Sandys responded that Gaunt was the only one he could talk to about it.

In Gaunt’s final letter to Sandys, he tells him that he is grateful to have him as a friend—even if few people know about their friendship. His letter is returned with a note saying that the recipient is deceased.

After receiving news that Gaunt will fight in his first battle, he is pulled aside by an angry Maitland. Maitland shows him one of Ellwood’s letters, which he took from Gaunt and read. Gaunt gets angry, but Maitland insists that he is trying to protect Gaunt. He explains that Caruthers died in battle, intentionally running out into action to die because he was going to be court-martialed for what he was writing to Sandys. At Maitland’s insistence, Gaunt writes a short letter to Ellwood. He tells him not to write again unless he can do so “appropriately.” Gaunt receives no response.

On April 30, 1915, Ellwood finds everyone gathered at Fletcher Hall. They tell him that a battle has happened in Ypres, Belgium, and that The Preshutian has posted the list of the dead. From it, Ellwood learns that Gaunt has been injured and that Maitland has died.

His friend Roseveare pulls him outside into the graveyard. Roseveare comforts him, implying that he knows how Ellwood feels about Maitland’s death but never openly saying it. The two talk about the many schoolboys that were killed or injured in the recent battle.

That Monday, a letter comes from Gaunt. In it, he describes the horrors of the battle. He apologizes to Ellwood for doing so, having avoided it in the past to spare him, but now he feels that he must describe what he saw. As the men were ordered to go over the trench and into No Man’s Land, everyone was paralyzed with fear. Gaunt pulled out his pistol, angrily brandishing it and threatening to shoot the men if they didn’t move. When he fired a warning shot, he inadvertently shot a soldier, Harkins, in the head. He ends his letter by telling Ellwood how “terrified” he is and that he wishes he could see him once more before dying.

Pritchard comes into Ellwood’s room as he finishes reading the letter. He finds Ellwood crying, but instead of making fun of him, he comforts him. Ellwood thinks of how Pritchard just lost his younger brother and how his older brother is still in the war. After sitting in silence for a few moments, the two mutually agree that they are going to enlist.

During training, Ellwood writes a letter to Gaunt, telling him that he has joined the war. Gaunt writes a short response, calling Ellwood an “idiot” and telling him to “go back to school” (81). Undaunted, Ellwood writes twice more, telling him about training and that Maitland’s mother asked to see the letters he wrote Ellwood, but he pretended he lost them. When he gets no answer from Gaunt, he writes a letter to Gaunt’s sister, Maud.

Maud responds, telling Ellwood that Gaunt has healed and has gone back to Flanders. She also says that she is secretly training to become a nurse, no longer wanting to sit in school and do nothing for the war.

On July 2, 1915, Ellwood writes to Gaunt again. He tells Gaunt that he knows he is “punishing” him for joining the war but that it is not going to change his mind.