In Memoriam Chapter Sixteen: Ellwood’s Return and Gaunt’s Unfinished Letter

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Ellwood returns to the front feeling hollow and angry, finding the trenches cleaner than ignorant England. He is immediately confronted with the teenage Duke Gosset, who has managed to enlist despite being nearly fifteen. Gosset’s naive enthusiasm grates on Ellwood and Hayes. Lieutenant Carrington suffers a breakdown after a routine patrol, claiming he cannot move his legs; Ellwood suspects malingering but Hayes intervenes to send Carrington to the medics. In a moment of rage, Ellwood blurts to Hayes that he and Gaunt were lovers. Hayes rebukes him but later gives Ellwood an unfinished letter from Gaunt, addressed “My dearest, darling Sidney” with nothing else written. Ellwood is devastated that Gaunt never called him Sidney to his face, and Hayes diffuses the tension with a joke. A new officer, Watts, arrives. Ellwood is attracted to him, but Hayes warns Ellwood not to act on it, pointing out that a working-class soldier would be executed if caught. Watts eventually develops trauma and venereal disease and is sent to hospital. Ellwood volunteers for a solo scouting mission; his compass breaks and he becomes lost in No Man’s Land, pinned down by sniper fire through a full day and night, hiding among rotting Canadian corpses.

Key Events

Ellwood returns to the front and finds Gosset, a fifteen-year-old duke, newly assigned to his company.
Carrington returns from patrol unable to move his legs; Ellwood threatens to shoot him, but Hayes sends him for medical evacuation.
Ellwood tells Hayes about his sexual relationship with Gaunt, and Hayes shows him Gaunt’s unfinished letter beginning “My dearest, darling Sidney.”
The replacement officer, Watts, arrives. Ellwood flirts with him, but Hayes warns him of the deadly consequences for Watts if they are discovered.
Watts volunteers as a scout and deteriorates mentally; he is eventually sent to hospital after contracting venereal disease.
Ellwood goes on a solo scouting mission, gets lost when his compass breaks, and spends a day and night trapped among dead Canadians under sniper fire.

Character Development

Ellwood: Grief-stricken and reckless, he displays a death wish as Hayes notes. His discovery of Gaunt’s unfinished letter deepens his anguish, revealing that Gaunt never called him by his first name despite feeling strongly enough to begin a love letter. Ellwood’s attraction to Watts shows his ongoing desire for intimacy, but he respects Hayes’ warning, marking a rare moment of restraint.
Hayes: Acts as a pragmatic moral counterweight. He sees through Ellwood’s bravado, tries to protect both Gosset and Watts from Ellwood’s recklessness, and offers the only moment of dark humour (calling Gaunt “Gauntette”) to break Ellwood’s despair. His warning to Ellwood about class dynamics reveals his awareness of the brutal homophobia in the army.
Gosset: Remains a naïve, hero-worshipping teenager, oblivious to the horror around him. His presence underscores the war’s absurdity and the failure of the recruitment system.
Carrington: Breaks down physically after trauma; his condition (hysterical paralysis) illustrates the psychological toll of combat that the army cannot acknowledge.
Watts: A gentle, working-class officer who is quickly corrupted by the war and by Ellwood’s attention. His descent into stuttering, drinking, and disease shows the vulnerability of those without the protection of class privilege.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Class and Homophobia: Hayes’ warning highlights that while Ellwood, an Etonian, might survive a scandal, Watts would be shot. The power imbalance makes any potential relationship deadly for the lower-ranking man.
Grief and Unfinished Words: Gaunt’s blank letter after “My dearest, darling Sidney” is a powerful symbol of love cut short, of everything left unsaid. Ellwood’s fixation on being called Sidney shows his hunger for intimacy that never materialised.
Death Wish vs. Survival Instinct: Ellwood’s reckless scouting and his anger at Carrington’s self-preservation reflect his complicated relationship with death—he craves it, yet he instinctively fights to live when stranded.
The Absurdity of War: Gosset’s childish enthusiasm amid the carnage, and the image of a dead Frenchman propped up as a joke, underscore the grotesque normalcy of death.
Silence and Communication: Boarding-school lessons in silent crying, the unfinished letter, and the long conversations Ellwood and Hayes have that never quite reach the heart.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter deepens Ellwood’s character by showing his raw grief and his emerging death wish. The revelation of Gaunt’s unfinished letter is a turning point—Ellwood now understands that Gaunt loved him more deeply than he had known, yet the words are permanently lost. Hayes’ role expands from sardonic observer to a reluctant guardian, trying to keep Ellwood from self-destruction and from endangering others. The chapter also establishes the lethal class dynamics of the British army and foreshadows the psychological damage that will continue to shape both Ellwood and Hayes. The cliffhanger of Ellwood stranded in No Man’s Land raises the stakes for the next chapter.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Hayes warn Ellwood not to pursue Watts?
Hayes explains that if an affair were discovered, Watts—a working-class man without Ellwood’s elite education—would be court-martialled and shot for “assaulting” his captain. Ellwood’s privilege would likely protect him, but Watts would pay with his life.

2. What significance does Gaunt’s unfinished letter have for Ellwood?
The letter begins “My dearest, darling Sidney,” but contains no other words. Ellwood is shattered because Gaunt never once called him Sidney to his face in five years. The fragment proves Gaunt’s deep affection, but also the loss of any chance for Ellwood to hear those words spoken.

3. How does Ellwood’s behaviour on the solo scouting mission reflect his emotional state?
Ellwood volunteers despite knowing the high risk of neurasthenia. Once lost, he does not panic in the moment but passively endures, mixing moments of despair with strange elation. His inability to decide whether to move shows a dangerous passivity that borders on a wish to die—consistent with Hayes’ earlier accusation that Ellwood has a death wish.