Now where was I? Oh yes, the sexual ambiguities in Sassoon’s poem The Kiss (see previous blog). So to continue Pat Barker’s conversation between army psychologist W.H.R. Rivers and his patient, Captain Manning:

“‘And of course it’s crawling with sexual ambiguities. But then I think it’s too easy to see that as a matter of personal … I don’t know what. The fact is the army’s attitude to the bayonet is pretty bloody ambiguous. You read the training manuals and they’re all going on about importance of close combat. Fair enough, but you get the impression there’s a value in it which is independent of whether it gains the objective or not. It’s proper war. Manly war. Not all this nonsense about machine-guns and shrapnel. And it’s reflected in the training. I mean, it’s one long stream of sexual innuendo. Stick him in the gooleys. No more little Fritzes. If Sassoon had used language like that, he’d never have been published.’ Manning stopped abruptly. ‘You know I think I’ve lost the thread. No, that’s it, I was trying … I was trying to be honest and think whether I hated bayonet practice more because … because the body that the sack represents is one that I … Come on, Rivers. Nice psychological term?’

“‘Love.’

“‘I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t think so. We all hate it. I’ve no way of knowing whether I hate it more, because we don’t talk about it. It’s just a bloody awful job, and we get on and do it. I mean, you split enormous parts of yourself off, anyway.’

“‘Is that what you did?’

“‘I suppose so.’ For a moment it seemed he was about to go on, then he shook his head.

“When he was sure there’d be no more, Rivers said, ‘You know we are going to have to talk about the war, Charles.’

“‘I do talk about it.’

“Silence.

“‘I just don’t see what good it would do to churn everything up. I know what the theory is.’ He looked down at his hands. ‘My son Robert, when he was little … he used to enjoy being bathed. And then quite suddenly he turned against it. He used to go stiff and scream blue murder every time his nurse tried to put him in. And it turned out he’d been watching the water go down the plughole and he obviously thought he might go down with it. Everybody told him not to be stupid.’ Manning smiled. ‘I must say it struck me as an eminently reasonable fear.’

“Rivers smiled. ‘I won’t let you go down the plughole.’”