A SOLDIER OF THE LEGION
E. Morlae was an American who, in the early days of the Great War, enlisted in the French Army and became a Soldier of the Legion. Many of his war experiences are graphically told in his various articles in The Atlantic Monthly.
'We spent our time eating and sleeping, mildly distracted by an intermittent bombardment': these were the breathing spells; active work found analogy only in the regions below. Yet either adventure was told with equal calm. That is what impresses one in Sergeant Morlae’s narrative. It is so grimly calm, almost impersonal. There is no careless enthusiasm, excited hilarity, or mad vengeance—simply a job to be done. The enemy alive present a target; dead, a source of added comfort for one’s self, a souvenir for one’s brother, or, if need be, material for a parapet. One’s life before and after has nothing to do with the present. And this is even more terrible for what it leaves unsaid.
There is, however, no lack of vividness in A Soldier of the Legion. The matter-of-factness of the telling deceives us only for a time, until the intrusion of a crisp, 'Hell kissed us welcome'; or, more significant still, 'And we were counted: eight hundred and fifty-two in the entire regiment, out of three thousand two hundred who entered the attack on the 25th of September.'
Suggested Points for Study and Comment
1. Does the conversational tone of the narrative make it any the less vivid?
2. When is the author’s power of vivid portrayal most apparent?
3. What ideas do you get of the Legion’s views of the enemy? Contrast it with other war stories you have read. Could it be accounted for by the type of men who entered the Foreign Legion?
4. What in the author’s account suggests the general morale of the troops?
5. What does the grimness of the occasional bits of humor convey as to the mental state of the men? What do these occasional jokes gain by their very scarcity?