Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

“Six years [Nancy] had been gone. Now Bertie was gone, too. They had left him all alone, the last family member of his generation. He clasped his hands to still a small tremor.”

When the Major receives the news of his brother’s death, this serves as the inciting incident for the plot and leads to the first moment of connection between the Major and Mrs. Ali. His loneliness and sense of isolation gives rise to part of the Major’s internal conflict, while his reflection on being the last of his generation introduces the importance he places on the family name and legacy.

“He had never thought of [his own death] before. It was ridiculous to think of it now, he reprimanded himself. No good acting like a poor old man just because Bertie had died.”

One of the Major’s flaws is to avoid the expression of anything he thinks of as sentiment. This quirk makes him overly reserved, and he fears that expressing his emotions will make him appear ridiculous. In reality, however, this restraint prevents him from fully acknowledging emotions such as grief. Throughout the novel, the Major’s reserve is linked to an expression of traditional British masculinity, and this becomes a point of interrogation and revision as he decides what behavior is most appropriate for him.

“It surprised him that his grief was sharper than in the past few days. He had forgotten that grief does not decline in a straight line or along a slow curve like a graph in a child’s math book.”

This fresh image is characteristic of the figurative language that Simonson uses throughout the novel. The prose style is thoughtful and precise and is often delivered in a dry voice that amplifies the subtle