Vera Brittain Analysis

Quotes from Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain:

“One of them remarked that he had had 'a real good officer, a slim dark chap…and a regular nut. You’d have thought he hadn’t an ounce of ginger in him, but Lord! miss, he didn’t know what fear was.’ This officer's name, the man said, was ‘Brittain,’ and he deserved the V.C. […]” (p.84).

“Edward, like Roland, had promised me that if a life existed beyond the grave, he would somehow come back and make me know of it. […] But he had sent no sign and Edward sent none; nor did I expect one. I knew now that death was the end and that I was quite alone” (p.86). 


    During this time, when Britain declared war on Germany, several people had to suffer losses of loved ones who were fighting in battle. Vera Brittain and her father were handed a telegram of the horrible news of Edward’s death. She struggles with the death of her dear brother Edward. Vera was very close with her brother and was determined to find out the truth and met with the colonel. He told her the blunt truth of his death, yet she still wasn’t satisfied with his answer. She found out later on that other officers in that battle thought that Edward deserved to receive the Victoria Cross for his fearlessness and efforts to push back the enemy. The last of Edward’s company had been killed in the last efforts to win the battle. As Vera wrote, “So whether Edwards part in the vital counter-attack on the Plateau really involved some special act of heroism, I shall never know” (p.84).

    Vera Brittain became depressed and was not mentally and emotionally stable after Edward’s death. She felt alone and in the darkness that she could not escape. She found out that he never even read her poem she had sent before he died. She was upset that he had died without her “[…] showing him how deeply she loved and admired him” (p.85). As she stated, “[…] from June 1918 until about April 1920, I knew no one in the world to whom I could speak spontaneously, or utter one sentence completely expressive of what I really thought or felt. I ‘stood alone’” (p. 85). Through this pain, Vera was dealing with she was not able to speak of Edward or think about him. She felt heartbroken that she knew that his life was over. Vera would not ever get to speak or have a close connection throughout the rest of her life, she felt so alone.



Comments

  1. livvcastroJanuary 25, 2021 at 6:43 AM

    Emmy,
    You brought up a good point about how Vera would never get to see her brother, Edward, again. Many people believe different things when it comes to death, but this passage shows us what Vera thought of it. Many people believe that there is life after death in some sort of capacity, but she believed that once someone died they were gone forever. This must have made it extremely hard for her to cope with all the death that was happening around her. Vera kept reminiscing on the old times that she had with Edward because she knew and thought that she would never be able to experience those moments again.

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