Birdsong revision AS English Literature

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



pg.121
`' Jack Firebrace lay forty five feet underground with several hundred thousands tons of France above his
face'' ­ fragility of a human being.
Pg. 123
`'They had dug to the end of the world'' ­ the sense of war being apocalyptic, the…

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



Pg. 142
-army food; conditions of men- `'contained the immovable lice''
-men treatment like animals- a shower bit.
-`'Half- past and half pissed'' - humor
Pg. 143
-men becoming to each other like family
- `'men forgot what was unforgivable''
-`'No one had even…

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



Pg.155
-`' the handsome face remained on one side, but on the other were the ragged edges of skull from
which the remains of his brain were dropping on to his uniform''- physical consequence
-`' another casualty, Douglas, whom he had seen this morning…

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



Pg.184
Comradeship very important : `' The empty expression that had filled so many letters home did not seem
enough to describe the part Stephen had played in his life.[...] If Stephen was gone, then he himself
would not be able to continue''
Pg.185…

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



Pg. 201-207
-A PROSTITUTE SCENE:
a)''It's a woman, a soft creature who will be kind to you and will make you feel well''- shows what
war has done to Weir, he considers everyone as enemy
b) `' Let me go home'' `' Home? Home?…

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



enemy will be relieved to see someone to whom he can surrender'' ­ commanding style, blind optimism,
naïve, imperative tone. He tries to give men hope-raise their morale. Colonel-anachronistic, dual point of
view: he might want to reassure himself as well ??? ; enemy…

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



Pg. 220-224
-epistolary- sense of one person at a time, emotional, different point of view of several characters
-Michael Weir letter: formal ­ `'mother and father'' , personal side, minutiae
`' Morale is very high. We expect this push will end the war''- blind…

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



Pg.224
- Short paragraph- building up a tension before the battle of the Somme; short sentences- staccato.
`'It was a night-time, but no man slept''
`'No one spoke. There was for once no sound of birds''- even nature around is dead
`'Men drank greedily''-…

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



Pg. 229
-`'They knew they were trapped'' ­no way out from this horror
-Jack Firebrace and Arthur Shaw watch the battle from a distance and see `'men from every corner
walking, powerless, into an engulfing storm''- natural metaphor-`'young men dying in quantities that they…

Notes on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks



-`'new unlivable reality''/ `'new reality in which they were now condemned to live''
- Stephen desperate to drink water, but as he lays in the shell hole with young man he gives him this
water- an act of humanity in the middle of mass…