Essay - Death of a Hero by Richard Aldington Richard Aldington's Death...

Death of a Hero by Richard Aldington

***** Aldington's Death of a *****

Rich*****rd Aldington's 1928 novel Death of a Hero explores the author's autobiographical experiences in the First World War. Aldington had enlisted as a priv*****te in 1916; three years later, he would be demobilized as a capta*****.

The narrator of the story, who is most likely ***** himself, tells the ***** ***** h***** friend, Captain George Winterbourne. Aldington tells us in the Prologue that the "hero" of the story is going to die. ***** of a Hero liter*****lly begins with the death of its hero. On the 4th of November 1918, Winterbourne, either by mistake or on purpose, exposes ***** ***** heavy machine gun fire and is killed. Thus, the rest of ***** novel will attempt to take into consideration what led to this final moment, by telling the story of ********** life.

***** first two parts of the book satirize the middle class Victorian existence ***** *****, his parents, ***** his grand*****. ***** savagely mocks their airless values. The parents of George seem to be overly sentimental and are blindfolded by sexual ignorance. They ***** to have married each other almost ***** accident, and gone on to live lazy existences. Their son, George, ***** go on ***** *****come a painter, ***** in rebellion against ***** parents' values. He begins to court Elizabeth. When she mistakenly believes that she is pregnant, George marries her. It turns out that the pregnancy was false. Elizabeth ins*****ts ***** the two of them should be free to have affairs with ot*****s. George concedes and is fairly relaxed about the arrangement. But when Elizabeth finds out that ***** is having an affair ***** her best friend Fanny, she reacts with fury.

***** George decides to ***** ***** war, it ***** almost as though he has chosen to do so as a me*****ns of escaping this oppressive existence. He enlists as a private, whereupon he meets the narra*****r ***** the *****. The two of *****m while away much ***** their free time discussing art ***** l*****erature.

***** is released from the army on leave. He ***** exhausted from all the tension and hardships that battle inevitably entails. He feels like he can no longer relate to ***** bourgeois existence he had known before he went to war. What is more, both Fanny and Elizabeth behave in an arrogant manner towards him, making him feel as though he is not wanted, ***** they are not openly hostile towards his advances.

George then is forced to return to battle. *****re, the war brings ***** nervous strain on him. It begins to emerge that George is a lot more sensitive th*****n we may have supposed earlier in the narrative. In the heat of battle, ***** stands up and allows *****self to be kil*****. ***** thus becomes a "hero" for his hypocritical "loved ones" at home to mourn.

The first major ********** of Death of a Hero is the ***** *****ttitudes and immorality of the Victorians. Much of