Archie Pritchard in In Memoriam: A Quiet Anchor in Wartime Chaos

Overview of Archie Pritchard

Archie Pritchard—often called Pritchard Major by schoolmates—is a supporting character in Alice Winn’s In Memoriam (2023). A scholarship student at Preshute, he is the older brother of Bertie Pritchard (Ellwood’s friend) and a fellow prisoner of war alongside Henry Gaunt. Quiet, perceptive, and steady, Archie serves as an emotional anchor during the novel’s darkest passages. His grief over Bertie’s death on the Somme and his role in the escape tunnel underscore the novel’s themes of masculinity and vulnerability and psychological trauma and shell-shock.

Plot Role and Significance

Archie first appears in the 1913 Preshute flashbacks, where he is part of the group drinking whisky in Cemetery House’s bathroom. He is described as “forgettable-looking” but “inconspicuously popular” because of his red hair and freckles. His role expands after his older brother Charlie is killed at Ypres; Archie becomes obsessively protective of the younger Bertie, desperate to return to the front to watch over him.

By the time he meets Gaunt in the German POW camp (Chapter 20), Archie is a seasoned prisoner who sleeps on an imaginary fire step, reliving trench duty in his nightmares. He joins Devi’s escape plan and forms a close trio with Gaunt and Devi. Archie’s most crucial plot function occurs in Chapter 21, when he finds Ellwood’s poem “In Memoriam H.W.G.” in a copy of The New Statesman. The poem’s rage and grief convince Gaunt that Ellwood believes he is dead, driving Gaunt to work the tunnel bellows despite physical pain. Later, on the ferry to England (Chapter 35), Archie and Gaunt read the Honour Roll together; Archie learns Bertie has been killed. He weepingly asks Gaunt to read cricket scores—a devastating moment that reveals his attempts to hold composure.

After escaping back to the front, Archie rejoins combat but eventually survives the war. In the novel’s coda (Chapter 46), he is not directly present, but his influence lingers: Gaunt and Devi both credit Archie’s steadying presence as essential to their survival.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Archie’s core motivation is love for his brother Bertie. He risks himself to stay alive and escape the camp in order to return to the front and protect Bertie. He is also motivated by a desire to be useful: he exercises obsessively, digs in the tunnel, and helps Gaunt manage panic attacks.

His traits emerge through actions:

• Loyalty: He immediately embraces Gaunt in the POW camp despite having “scarcely known each other at school,” showing that shared history matters more than familiarity.
• Empathy: When Gaunt panics in the tunnel, Archie doesn’t mock him; instead, he later comforts Gaunt, saying, “Quiet down, old boy. You’re all right.”
• Humour with bite: In Chapter 25, during solitary confinement, he teases Gaunt about his “insufferable swot” readings, and they fight physically—then reconcile. This rough intimacy reveals his resilience.
• Observant stillness: When Devi and Archie confront Gaunt about his sexuality (Chapter 22), Archie offers practical advice (“Aldworth plans to move to Brazil”) and participates in Devi’s lighthearted jokes, making Gaunt feel accepted.
• Suppressed grief: After learning of Bertie’s death, Archie does not break down dramatically; instead, he goes blind with tears and asks Gaunt to read cricket scores. This indicates a learned stoicism that later becomes a liability.

Chronological Arc

• 1913 (Lower Sixth): Archie is a clever, quiet boy who procures whisky from his older brother Charlie for the bathroom drinking session. He is not yet grieving.
• 1915 (Western Front): Archie’s brother Charlie is killed at Ypres. Archie becomes fixated on Bertie.
• POW camp (1917–1918): Archie is captured and meets Gaunt and Devi. He sleepwalks, joining the escape tunnel. He discovers Ellwood’s poem, sparking Gaunt’s determination to escape.
• Transfer / escape attempt: During the train transfer, Archie helps coordinate with Devi and Nicholson. Their escape involves jumping from the train and walking through Germany.
• Hoek van Holland ferry (post-Somme): Archie learns of Bertie’s death. He returns to the front but survives the war.
• Aftermath: Archie’s later life is not detailed, but his friendship with Gaunt and Devi remains a foundation.

Key Relationships

Key Decisions and Consequences

1. Joining the escape tunnel: Archie chooses to dig despite the danger. This decision deepens his bond with Gaunt and Devi but also forces him to confront his own claustrophobia and grief.
2. Sharing Ellwood’s poem with Gaunt: Archie could have kept the discovery to himself. Instead, he shows Gaunt, sparking a desperate determination that nearly kills Gaunt but ultimately enables their escape.
3. Supporting Gaunt’s secret: When Devi and Archie realize Gaunt is homosexual, they do not judge him; Archie’s matter-of-fact acceptance (“I’ve heard that doesn’t work”) helps Gaunt feel relieved and unburdened. This reinforces the novel’s theme of forbidden homosexual love in wartime.
4. Reacting to Bertie’s death: Archie chooses not to rage or weep publicly; he asks Gaunt to read cricket scores. This decision reflects the period’s masculine code but also invites Gaunt to share the burden privately.

Theme and Symbol Connections

• Masculinity and Vulnerability: Archie’s sleepwalking (standing on an imaginary fire step) and his weeping over the Honour Roll reveal the cracks in the Edwardian ideal of stoicism. He embodies how war breaks even the “quietly popular” boy.
• Psychological Trauma and Shell-Shock: Archie’s night-time rituals, his fights with Gaunt in solitary, and his need to “keep watch” are all symptoms of undiagnosed PTSD. The novel uses him to show that trauma does not always manifest as dramatic breakdowns.
• Escape and Survival: The tunnel is both literal and metaphorical. Archie’s drive to escape is tied to his need to return to Bertie—a survival instinct that, tragically, cannot save his brother.
• Memory and Poetry as Consolation: Archie is the one who hands Gaunt the New Statesman containing Ellwood’s poem. Poetry becomes a bridge that reconnects Gaunt to hope; Archie’s role as facilitator highlights reading as an act of care.
• Forbidden Homosexual Love: Archie’s acceptance of Gaunt’s sexuality aligns with the novel’s broader argument that true resistance to oppression includes solidarity among queer people. His casual “or you could try hypnosis” (joking) signals that he sees Gaunt as normal.

For deeper thematic analysis, see Memory and Poetry as Consolation and Escape and Survival.

Frequently Asked Questions About Archie Pritchard

1. Why does Archie sleepwalk in the POW camp?
   Archie stands on an imaginary fire step every night, keeping watch for snipers. This is a trauma response to trench warfare; his mind cannot stop soldiering even when his body is captive. The novel uses this to show how war becomes embedded in the psyche.

2. How does Archie react when he learns Bertie is dead?
   He goes “blind with tears” and asks Gaunt to read the Indian cricket scores aloud. He tries to redirect his grief into mundane data, showing his attempt to maintain composure. He later tells Gaunt that his mother will be “awfully upset,” deflecting his own pain.

3. What is Archie’s attitude toward Gaunt’s homosexuality?
   He accepts it without hesitation. In Chapter 22, when Devi teases Gaunt, Archie adds practical observations (“Aldworth plans to move to Brazil”) and joins Devi in reassuring Gaunt that he is still the same person. He tells Gaunt, “I think that’s reasonable,” about having good taste in men.

4. Does Archie survive the war?
   Yes. He returns to the front after escaping the camp and is still alive at the novel’s close. His voice is absent from the post-war Rio de Janeiro section, but his survival is assured by his presence on the ferry and subsequent combat.

5. What symbolic role does cricket play in Archie’s story?
   Cricket represents the lost Edwardian peace. On the ferry, reading cricket scores is a desperate attempt to cling to normalcy. Later, in solitary, Archie and Gaunt argue about Adam Bede—another link to the pre-war world. Cricket becomes a symbol of the childhood that war has destroyed.

For more discussion of the novel’s conclusion and unresolved threads, read the Ending Explained page.