Chapter synopses Flashcards
1
Q
Chapter 1
A
- Rivers reads Sassoon’s Declaration
- Sassoon journeys to Edinburgh and has a flashback on the train in which we learn of how he was persuaded by Graves to take the Medical Board that sent him to Craiglockhart
- Rivers sees Sassoon arrive
2
Q
Chapter 2
A
- Sassoon and Rivers have their first consultation in which Sassoon maintains his antiwar stance, claiming that his antipathy has shifted from the Germans to British non-combatants who support the war
- Rivers tells Sassoon it is his job to change his mind
- Rivers feels defeated by the case of Burns who suffers from a traumatically induced eating disorder
3
Q
Chapter 3
A
- Graves arrives at Craiglockhart and meets with Rivers
- Graves tells Rivers how he convinced the MB that Sassoon’s Declaration was a result of his illness rather than a rational desire for the war to end
- Rivers reads Sassoon’s poetry and decides it demonstrates the complexity of his case as Sassoon is dealing with his trauma in the opposite way to most patients
4
Q
Chapter 4
A
- Rivers has a consultation with Anderson; they discuss his strange dreams and his haemophobia
- Graves and Sassoon go for a swim; they mention a boy who was castrated by his injuries
- Rivers and Sassoon meet again
- Burns conducts a strange ritual in the woods; Rivers watches over him when he returns
5
Q
Chapter 5
A
- Rivers meets Billy Prior
- Graves leaves
- Rivers has a nightmare and analyses it
6
Q
Chapter 6
A
- Rivers and Prior have their first formal consultation
- Rivers’s work is interrupted by an unexpected visit from Prior’s father and then almost immediately afterward by his mother
- that evening, Rivers finds Prior alone in the common room fighting the onset of an asthma attack, and settles him as best he can for the night
7
Q
Chapter 7 - end of part 1
A
- Prior tells Rivers about his army experiences but Rivers refuses his request to use hypnosis to recover his memory
- Details of Sassoon’s case are published in The Times and Rivers writes his admission report
- Rivers explains to Brock, his colleague, how he plans to persuade Sassoon to return to the front
8
Q
Chapter 8
A
- Prior describes to Rivers the events leading up to his memory loss
- Owen and Sassoon meet for the first time
- Sassoon plays golf with Anderson
- Prior goes to Edinburgh for a night out, where he meets Sarah Lumb; he buys her a drink, they talk but she refuses to have sex with him
9
Q
Chapter 9
A
- with Prior, Rivers discusses the different shell-shock symptoms exhibited by private soldiers and officers
- Rivers hypnotises Prior, enabling him to remember the event that triggered his loss of speech
- Rivers contemplates the central paradox of WW1: the way in which it encouraged men to form caring relationships with men in the midst of conflict
10
Q
Chapter 10
A
- Sarah’s friend Lizzie says she doesn’t want to see her husband who is hoping to return home on leave
- Willard, who suffers from hysterical paralysis, awaits his wife’s visit
- Rivers and Sassoon have dinner at the Conservative Club
- Rivers meets Willard’s wife
11
Q
Chapter 11
A
- Sassoon gives a poem to Owen to publish in the Hydra
- Sassoon criticises Owen’s poetry and advises him on his writing methods
12
Q
Chapter 12
A
- Prior takes Sarah out for the day
- there is a storm; they have sex but quarrel later
13
Q
Chapter 13 - end of part 2
A
Rivers has an exhausting day and finally breaks down that evening; Bryce convinces him to take leave
- Prior recuperates from another asthma attack
- Sassoon and Owen work on a new poem
- Sassoon thinks he has a visit from a dead friend and regrets being unable to talk to Rivers about the experience
14
Q
Chapter 14
A
- Rivers goes to church and his stay with his brother evokes memories of his childhood
- Sassoon and Owen continue work on Owen’s poem, which Sassoon gives a title
- Prior and Sassoon unexpectedly meet at the local hospital
- Rivers stays with Henry Head and discusses Sassoon’s case with Ruth, Henry’s wife, during a walk on Hampstead Heath
- Rivers receives an unexpected job offer
15
Q
Chapter 15
A
- Rivers visits Burns at his home on the Suffolk coast
- Rivers wonders why he has always regarded Burns’s experience as uniquely horrific when all his patients have endured similarly appalling events
- Burns disappears from the house in the middle of the night and Rivers searches for him
- Burns talks about his experiences in France and Rivers wonders if this is a sign of recovery
