Although his name is associated with a symbol of authority we soon find out that he has nearly no authority in his posse of vagabonding soldiers. He is not very clever and that is why he follows Robbie as he knows and respects that Robbie has a higher intellect than himself.
It is no coincindence that McEwan has introduced Mace only in the war-time part of the novel as his name does have links with war, or more precisely weaponry. A "mace" was a heavy medieval club (sometimes spiked) used to shatter or weaken armour. This gives us an image of Corporal Mace being a sadistic killing machine when in fact he is quite nice and gentle.
One example is when he rescues an RAF officer from a beating by soldiers of his own side by pretending to go and drown the officer; because people actually believed he was going to drown this officer may tell us that he is maybe rather big and scary in size or has attained a reputation among the ranks for being ruthless in which case his name suits him well. However we do not know enough about Corporal Mace to say whether he fulfills the etymology of his name.
8 comments:
Maybe McEwan used the difference between the meaning of the name and Mace's character to again show that, not everything is as it looks and suggests that the reader should not judge too early.
i like how you have not just stuck to one conclusive idea but have opened it to interpretation and i find Charlotte's comment very useful
I agree with thomas and charlotte, and i think your thoughts are valid.
I like how you ended your analysis by indicating that we do not know enough about Corporal Mace and therefore may not necessarily fulfill his name.
Maybe Mace also got his name from all the teasing of Robbie, like an irritant, like mace.
I like your ideas, they are very interesting and justified
I like how you have clearly identified the contrast between Corporal Mace and the meaning of his name.
Original interpretations Paul, you are able to bring in examples from various episodes in the novel to inform your analysis, well done.
Some specific quotations and references would add to this : )
Post a Comment