a soldier's pay internet

8/12/2019 A Soldier's Pay Internet

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The Story

The novels central character is LieutenantDonald Mahon,a fighter pilot who was shot

down in Europe and is believed dead, but who mysteriously resurfaces on a train bound for

home. He has suffered a tremendous head wound, leaving a horrible scar where his foreheadshould be, and he cannot remember anyone or anything from his previous life in his

hometown, harlestown, !eorgia.

"ersona#ul central al romanului este locotenentul Donald Mahon, un pilot de vanatoare

care a fost $mpu cat $n Europa i este considerat mort, dar care reapare misterios pe un tren

legat de cas%. El a suferit o ran% la cap imens, l%s&nd o cicatrice $ngro'itoare $n care ar trebui s%

fie fruntea lui, i el nu poate aminti cineva sau ceva din via a sa anterioar%, $n ora ul s%u natal,

harlestown, !eorgia.

The other characters gravitate toward Donald. (n the train he meets )oe !illigan,an *rmy

private who never got to fight in the war, and Mrs. Margaret "owers, whose husband was +illed

in the war by one of his own troops, both of whom decide to accompany him home and to ta+e

care of him because of his sorry condition.

elelalte persona#e gravite'e spre Donald. "e tren il intalneste pe )oe !illigan, un privat,

*rmata, care nu a a#uns s% lupte $n r%'boi, i doamna Margaret "owers, al c%rei so a fost ucis $n r%'boiul cu una dintre propriile sale trupe, ambele din care decide s%l $nso easc% acas% i s%

avea gri#% de el, din cau'a st%rii sale de r%u.

-n harlestown, Donalds father, the everend )oseph Mahon,an Episcopal minister, is

surprised to learn he is still alive, as is ecily /aunders, his fianc0e, a flappertype who has

begun dating a young man in town,!eorge 1arr. (ther +ey characters in harlestown

include Emmy, a servant for everend Mahon who is secretly in love with Donald,

and)anuarius )ones,a fellow of Latin at a small college who is fat and satyrli+e and who

continuously tries, and fails, to seduce the female characters.

2n harlestown, tat%l lui Donald, reverendul )oseph Mahon, un ministru episcopala, este

surprins s% afle c% este $nc% $n via %, a a cum este ecily /aunders, logodnica lui, un tip

tamburului, care a $nceput dat&nd un t&n%r din ora , !eorge 1arr. *lte persona#e cheie din

harlestown includ Emmy, un slu#itor pentru reverendul Mahon, care este secret $n dragoste cu
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Donald, i )anuarius )ones, un coleg de latin% la un colegiu mic, care este de gr%sime i satir,

precum i care $ncearc% $n mod continuu, i nu, s% seduc% persona#ele de se3 feminin.

The novel follows Donalds slow degradation as spring slowly advances from *pril intoMay. *ll who see Donald, e3cept his father, agree he is about to die. ecily, who is stunned to

learn her husbandtobe is still alive, agrees to see him, but she is shoc+ed by his horrible scar.

Eventually, as Donalds condition worsens 4he becomes blind5, he receives his 6soldiers pay78

ecily marries !eorge 1arr, while Margaret "owers, out of a sense of sacrifice and perhaps

guilt over her own feelings toward her husband 4whom she had intended to leave before she

discovered he had been +illed5, marries Donald. /hortly thereafter, Donald dies.

omanul urmea'% degradare lent% lui Donald ca primavara avansuri $ncet, $ncep&nd cu

aprilie p&n% $n mai. To i cei care v%d Donald, cu e3cep ia tat%lui s%u, sunt de acord c% este pe

cale s% moar%. ecily, care este uimit s% $nve e ei so afi este $nc% $n via %, este de acord s%l

vad%, dar ea este ocat de oribil cicatrice s%u. 2n cele din urm%, a a cum se agravea'a starea lui

Donald 4el devine orb5, el prime te 9plata soldatului9 lui8 se c%s%tore te cu ecily !eorge 1arr,

$n timp ce Margaret "owers, dintrun sentiment de sacrificiu i, probabil, vina peste

sentimentele ei fa % de so ul ei 4care a avut scopul s% plece $nainte ca ea a descoperit c% a fost

ucis5, se c%s%tore te cu Donald. La scurt timp dup% aceea, Donald moare.

Background

1aul+ner wrote Soldiers Paywhile living in :ew (rleans in ;, but much of the

inspiration for the novel dates bac+ to the time of the war. ?hen the @nited /tates entered the

war, 1aul+ner eagerly tried to #oin the @./. *rmy as a pilot, but he was turned down because of

his small si'e. Dismayed but undeterred, he adopted a Aritish persona and #oined the oyal *ir

1orce as a cadet in anada, but before he could finish flight training, the war ended, thus

robbing 1aul+ner of the chance to achieve a heros status in the s+ies over Europe.

1aul+ner a scris "ay /oldiers 9, $n timp ce tr%iesc $n :ew (rleans $n ;, dar o mare parte

din inspira ie pentru romanul datea'a din timpul r%'boiului. 2n ca'ul $n care /tatele @nite au

intrat $n r%'boi, 1aul+ner cu ner%bdare $ncercat s% intre $n armata /@* ca un pilot, dar a fost

refu'at din cau'a dimensiunilor sale mici. onsternat dar descura#at, el a adoptat o personalitate


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britanic i sa al%turat oyal *ir 1orce ca un cadet $n anada, dar $nainte de a putut duce la bun

antrenament de 'bor, r%'boiul sa $ncheiat, #efuit astfel 1aul+ner de ansa de a ob ine statutul de

erou $n cer peste Europa.

His lac+ of actual combat did not prevent him from assuming the stance of a war hero

when he returned home to (3ford, however. He told stories of in#uries he had sustained, stories

which many assumed were suffered in combat. 1aul+ner did little to dissuade such beliefs. -n

the novel, both )oe !illiganand the lovesic+ )ulian Lowewere soldiers 4or wouldbe soldiers5

denied the opportunity to demonstrate their courage in battle. The character of Donald Mahon,

as a returning war hero who dies from his wounds, serves as what may have been 1aul+ners

unspo+en longing. *lso in the novel, one can note the often disparaging portrait of love and

relationshipsa pattern 1aul+ner may have appropriated from his own abortive romance with

Estelle (ldham, whom he had longed to marry 4and eventually would, in ;


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manuscript for Soldiers Pay, and *nderson agreed to recommend it to his publisher, provided

he didnt have to read it.

2n momentul $n care a scris romanul, 1aul+ner a fost tr%iesc $n :ew (rleans i sub tutela

scriitor aclamat /herwood *nderson, a c%rui so ie 1aul+ner au $nt&lnit mai devreme $ntro

vi'it% la :ew Bor+. 2n :ew (rleans, t&n%rul 1aul+ner care atunci $nc% se considera $n primul

r&nd un poet a $nceput s% scrie schi e i piese scurte, care au fost publicate $n dublu dealer i

$n 'iarul :ew (rleans Times"icayune. /ub sfatul lui *nderson, 1aul+ner a scris manuscrisul

pentru "ay /oldiers 9, i *nderson a fost de acord s%l recomande la editorul s%u, cu condi ia s%

nu trebuie s%l citeasc%.

Structure, Technique, and Criticism

Li+e many other novels published around this time, including another first novel by Ernest

Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises4published the same year as Soldiers Pay5, 1aul+ners first

novel attempts to describe the 6lost generation7 following ?orld ?ar -. Though 1aul+ners

novel is not nearly as successful a novel as that by Hemingway, with whom 1aul+ner would

continue a +ind of competition throughout his career, it does offer tantali'ing glimpses of his

style of writing which he would begin to perfect withThe Sound and the Furyin ;


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were favorable toward the novel. -n The New Statesman, one critic even wrote, 6- can

remember no first novel of such magnificent achievement in the last thirty years.7

@nele dintre comentarii timpurii de plat% solda ilor gasit romanul mediocru. Thomas Aoyd

$n /aturday eview of Literature a numito 9un cinstit, dar slapdash9 carte 9, cu caractere vagi

comportament anormal care se clatine nesigur% i fantastic.9 @nele alte critici a respins $n mod

similar, romanul ca un minor, derivat roman postr%'boi. ele mai multe comentarii, cu toate

acestea, au fost favorabile spre roman. 2n :ew /tatesman, un critic chiar a scris, 9$mi amintesc

nici primul roman de astfel de reali'are magnific $n ultimii trei'eci de ani.9

ertainly the novel is uneven8 the opening chapter, in which 6Baphan+7 4the nic+name

for )oe !illigan5 and other soldiers are raucously drun+ aboard a train, seems to belong to

another novel, and similarly, the presence of )anuarius )onesin the novel provides little more

than a persistent comic foil who provides no real impetus to the main action in the story.

haracters are largely flat and not fully reali'ed8 ecily /aunders, for instance, flutters through

the plot with unclear motivations and eually cloudy intentions, while the main character

himself, Donald Mahon, is so far gone mentally that he cannot provide any real anchor for the

disparate assemblage of characters. /tylistically, too, 1aul+ner reaches for results that seem, at

this stage in his career, beyond his grasp8

Desigur, romanul este inegal%8 primul capitol, $n care 9Baphan+9 4porecla pentru )oe

!illigan5 i al i solda i sunt raucously beat la bordul unui tren, pare s% apar in% la un alt roman,

i $n mod similar, pre'en a )anuarius )ones $n roman ofer% mai mult dec&t o folie de ben'i

desenate persistent, care nu ofer% nici un impuls real pentru ac iunea principal% $n poveste.

aracterele sunt $n mare parte plat, i nu pe deplin reali'at8 /aunders ecily, de e3emplu,

flutur% prin parcela cu motiva ii neclare i inten iile la fel de u oar%, $n timp ce persona#ul

principal $nsu i, Donald Mahon, este at&t de departe mental c% nu poate oferi nici o ancor% real%

pentru asamblare disparate de caractere. /tilistic, de asemenea, 1aul+ner a#unge la re'ultate care

par, $n aceast% etap% $n cariera sa, dincolo de $n elegerea lui 8Mahon was asleep on the veranda and the other three sat beneath the tree on the lawn, watching

the sun go down. *t last the reddened edge of the disc was sliced li+e a cheese by the wistaria

covered lattice wall and the neutral buds were a pale agitation against the dead afternoon. /oon

the evening star would be there above the poplar tip, perple3ing it, immaculate and ineffable, and

the poplar was vain as a girl dar+ly in an arrested passionate ecstasy. Half of the moon was a
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coin bro+en palely near the 'enith and at the end of the lawn the first fireflies were li+e la'ily

blown spar+s from cool fires. * negro woman passing crooned a religious song, mellow and

passionless and sad.

The result of such passages, as Michael Millgate points out in The Achievement of illiamFaul!ner, is a tendency in the direction of artificiality.

:evertheless, there is the promise of future greatness in the novel. ?e can see here an

early e3ample of the structural techniue he will use later in such novels asLi"ht in

Au"ustand The #amletto give unity to a highly heterogeneous body of material. *lso in the

novel is a richness of allusion, an e3tensive set of symbolic associations between characters and

natural ob#ects and phenomena, and an insistent reliance upon 6unrealistic7 narrative language

to give a particular emphasis to the sub#ects and themes deemed important by the author all of

these techniues would be employed later in 1aul+ners fiction.
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