Private Peaceful
...h chapter begins set sometime during the First World War, somewhere between 1914 and 1918. This small section, usually only two or three paragraphs in length, acts as our introduction to the remainder of the chapter. Following these introductions, the chapter is occupied only by another flashback of Thomas’ life before the war, where we can see him growing up into the soldier he is unaware he will eventually become. These flashback are set in a small village named Blighty in England. However, the setting of the flashbacks changes twice more, once to a training facility for soldiers in Etaples, France and then to Belgium where he has been sent to fight. The first of the two main characters in the book is Thomas Peaceful, also the narrator of the story. Thomas is the younger of his two older brothers and has lived the majority of both his childhood and young adulthood under a heavy burden of guilt. During this time he has always felt that he was ultimately responsible for the untimely death of his father, it’s not until his last moments with Charlie that the burden is lifted from across his shoulders. During the first flashback of the novel we see Thomas heading to his first day at school. He is obviously upset about this, as we’re told he has been dreading this day for a long, long time. It’s here we first see the bond between Thomas and his older brother Charlie. Immediately after seeing how upset his brother is about what the day is to bring, Charlie managers to cheer his brother up, telling him that he’ll always be there to protect and help him. A promise found to be very true throughout the novel. At this point of his life Thomas is not much more than a vulnerable school boy, very much depending on the protection of his older brother. He is evidently shy from his first meeting with a girl in his class named Mo...