Chapter summaries In Memoriam Alice Winn

Chapter 30: The First Day of the Somme

⚠️ 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

At 7:20 a.m. on 1 July 1916 the British bombardment finally stops. Deep in their chalk trench, the German soldier Ernst Grisar and his machine-gun team crawl to the firing line. The British wire is undamaged, and for ten minutes the landscape is eerily quiet. Then British heads appear above the opposite trench. Ernst gives the order to fire. The British soldiers advance slowly, walking over their fallen comrades. The machine gun cuts them down by the hundred. Ernst recalls a pre-war memory of his friend Ellwood laughing in Munich and spreading his arms on a mountain peak. He forces the memory away. The slaughter continues for an unknown length of time; Ernst begins to see the enemy as ants to crush. A shell blows up a wave of British soldiers near the German line. Ernst is sent to A Company after two officers are lost. While checking his bayonet, a British officer drops into the trench. Ernst recognizes him: it is Ellwood. Ellwood, wild and covered in blood, says he will not surrender and demands to be killed.

Key Events

  • The seven-day bombardment ends and the British infantry attack begins.
  • Ernst operates the machine gun, mowing down hundreds of British soldiers who walk calmly forward.
  • Ernst recalls a peaceful memory of Ellwood visiting him in Munich.
  • The British begin to break through the German wire.
  • Ernst is transferred to A Company to replace lost officers.
  • A British officer drops into the trench: Ellwood.
  • Ellwood refuses to surrender, forcing Ernst to face a kill-or-be-killed situation.

Character Development

  • Ernst Grisar: Forced to dehumanize the enemy (he imagines them as ants) in order to continue the slaughter. The memory of Ellwood briefly rehumanizes him, but only until he must resume fighting. At the end, the sight of Ellwood—once a mirthful friend, now a desperate soldier—strips away Ernst’s detachment and confronts him with the personal cost of war.
  • Ellwood: Appears transformed from the carefree boy of the Munich memory. He is “wild,” “covered in blood,” and seemingly fearless. His refusal to surrender suggests a desire for death or at least determination to fight rather than be captured. His high voice and narrowed focus show a man under extreme psychological strain.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Dehumanization of the enemy: Ernst can only keep firing by viewing the British as ants or dirt to be wiped away. This survival mechanism is a key theme of the chapter.
  • Futility and the waste of life: The British advance is described as “absurd” — men walking to their deaths without cover, no military gain visible.
  • Memory as a fragile escape: The flashback to Ellwood in Munich shows the world before the war and underscores what has been lost. It is a brief, unbearable contrast to the present.
  • The machine gun as a scythe: The weapon is compared to a scythe cutting grass, emphasizing the industrial, impersonal nature of the killing.
  • The wire as an impassable boundary: The undamaged British wire traps the attackers, but later the German wire is also crossed. The physical barrier mirrors the psychological barrier Ernst erects between himself and the enemy.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 30 is the first (and only) extended first-hand account of the Battle of the Somme from a German soldier’s perspective in the novel. It forces the reader to see the most infamous day of World War I through the eyes of the “enemy” — a young man who feels as trapped and horrified as any British soldier. The chapter also provides the long-awaited reunion of Ernst and Ellwood, turning them from pen pals into literal antagonists on the battlefield. This encounter sets up a moral dilemma: if Ernst spares Ellwood, he may be killed; if he kills Ellwood, he destroys the last remnant of his old life. The chapter’s visceral details ground the novel’s themes of survival, memory, and the loss of humanity.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Ernst compare the British soldiers to ants?
    He does so to maintain his ability to keep firing. By viewing the men as non-human, he can ignore their “glazed, terrified faces” and avoid the psychological weight of killing thousands of individuals.

  2. What does the memory of Ellwood in Munich reveal about their pre-war relationship?
    It shows that Ellwood was once a carefree, joyful boy who admired German culture and felt a close bond with Ernst. The memory contrasts sharply with the brutal present, highlighting how war has transformed them both.

  3. Why does Ellwood refuse to surrender?
    Although his exact motivation is not stated, Ellwood’s wild appearance, high voice, and demand to be killed suggest he may be suicidal, unwilling to live as a prisoner, or determined to take more German lives before dying. He seems to have abandoned any hope of survival.

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