Generals Die In Bed Teacher s Guide 1 
Generals Die in Bed by Charles Yale Harrison
Teaching notes prepared for VATE members by Robert Cole
CONTENTS
1.
Introduction
Page 1
2.
Ways into the text
Page
6
3.
Running sheet
Page
8
4.
Characters
Page
12
5.
Issues and themes
Page
16
6.
A guided approach to selected passages
Page
18
7.
Further activities for exploring the text
Page
22
8.
Key quotes
Page
25
9.
Essay topics
Page
29
10.
References and resources
Page
30
References in this guide are to Harrrison, Charles Yale, Generals Die in Bed, Penguin 2003
Purchasers may copy Inside Stories for classroom use
Section 1.
An introduction to Generals Die in Bed.
First thoughts
Generals Die in Bed is a powerful novel, which vividly conveys the experience of the common soldier in World War One. Its title, part joke, part outrage, signals the author’s intention as polemical. The author creates a barren landscape, destroyed by war, and the characters inhabit this wasteland. The characters are seen fleetingly, in particular moments only, and we divine what they are feeling mostly through their actions. The story is punctuated by vivid descriptions of trench warfare, description of rest periods, and of the discomfort and danger of life in the trenches.
Generals Die in Bed is told by a soldier with no name, and the reader sees the war through his eyes. Charles Harrison creates a character who sometimes sees like a journalist and sometimes sees like a poet. The soldier’s vision extends beyond his immediate experience to register and respond to the whole extent of human suffering that the war creates.
Like Wilfred Owen, in Dulce et decorum est, Harrison’s intention is to awaken his readers to the new reality of War. The opening chapter portrays the new soldiers leaving Montreal for the first time as lost, unhappy and childish in their attempts to blot out their fears of what is to come. The parade to the train station is described in a series of fragmented images, in an atmosphere of
Teaching notes prepared for VATE members by Robert Cole
CONTENTS
1.
Introduction
Page 1
2.
Ways into the text
Page
6
3.
Running sheet
Page
8
4.
Characters
Page
12
5.
Issues and themes
Page
16
6.
A guided approach to selected passages
Page
18
7.
Further activities for exploring the text
Page
22
8.
Key quotes
Page
25
9.
Essay topics
Page
29
10.
References and resources
Page
30
References in this guide are to Harrrison, Charles Yale, Generals Die in Bed, Penguin 2003
Purchasers may copy Inside Stories for classroom use
Section 1.
An introduction to Generals Die in Bed.
First thoughts
Generals Die in Bed is a powerful novel, which vividly conveys the experience of the common soldier in World War One. Its title, part joke, part outrage, signals the author’s intention as polemical. The author creates a barren landscape, destroyed by war, and the characters inhabit this wasteland. The characters are seen fleetingly, in particular moments only, and we divine what they are feeling mostly through their actions. The story is punctuated by vivid descriptions of trench warfare, description of rest periods, and of the discomfort and danger of life in the trenches.
Generals Die in Bed is told by a soldier with no name, and the reader sees the war through his eyes. Charles Harrison creates a character who sometimes sees like a journalist and sometimes sees like a poet. The soldier’s vision extends beyond his immediate experience to register and respond to the whole extent of human suffering that the war creates.
Like Wilfred Owen, in Dulce et decorum est, Harrison’s intention is to awaken his readers to the new reality of War. The opening chapter portrays the new soldiers leaving Montreal for the first time as lost, unhappy and childish in their attempts to blot out their fears of what is to come. The parade to the train station is described in a series of fragmented images, in an atmosphere of
References: Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front, Ballantine, 1982. (Video) Websites