A Long Long Way: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

From the newspaper, Willie learns that people from all over the British Empire are signing up for the war. John Redmond has encouraged men to go and fight for Home Rule because Britain will reward Ireland with independence if Irishmen contribute to the war effort. However, Ulstermen are joining the army for the opposite reason: to prevent Home Rule. Willie’s father thinks Redmond is a scoundrel. He believes men should fight for “King and Country and Empire.”

Since he’s too short to be a policeman, Willie signs up to be a soldier. When he tells his father he has joined the army, his father weeps. Willie’s sisters Maud and Annie are excited for Willie, but Dolly cries when she hears that Willie is leaving. All her life, Willie has been the one to mother her.

In December 1914, soon after his 18th birthday, Willie writes a letter home to his father. With the rest of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Willie has been in Cork marching and training with pretend bayonets. In his letter, Willie recalls to his father how he once learned “Ave Maria” by Schubert for a singing competition. He memorized the two verses, but he never realized that there was a piano interlude between them, so he stumbled during his performance. Willie wonders why he keeps thinking of that memory.

The new year arrives, and the new Irish recruits finish their training. They’ve heard that soldiers from both sides of the trenches sang “Silent Night” together on Christmas, so they think the war doesn’t “sound so bad at all.” The new recruits soon depart from Dublin, emboldened by the cheering crowds and expecting to return home triumphantly in a few weeks.

Willie, his new friends Williams and Clancy, and the other Irish soldiers travel by train through England. People in small villages cheer them on as they pass, and Williams jokingly remarks that they must not know the soldiers are Irish. Willie doesn’t understand that the villagers might cheer less for Irish soldiers. 

The new soldiers arrive in France, and Willie is enchanted by the foreign landscape. He sits in a transport with Williams, Clancy, and their company sergeant-major Christy Moran. Willie is comforted by the news that their platoon leader, Captain Pasley, is a young man from a respected family in Wicklow. As the transport brings him closer to the war, Willie feels proud, strong, healthy, and tall. With increasing euphoria, he imagines that the good men of the world will swiftly drive back the evil enemy with glorious victory. But, suddenly, fear descends on Willie, and he vomits in the transport to his comrades’ dismay.

The new soldiers enter their trenches in Belgium. Willie feels immensely small compared to the presence of death and the sound of bombs hitting the earth. He trembles during the bombardment.

Later in the evening, after the bombardment, Willie’s platoon sits around a brazier listening to Christy Moran’s mutterings. By filling the silence, Christy brings some comfort to the listeners, distracting them from their fear. The sergeant-major talks about his hatred for the British army and the irony of fighting for the King of England when England has long oppressed Ireland. The other soldiers know Christy could get shot for his gruff speech, but they’re fond of him anyway.

Later, the company learns that the most recent bombardment destroyed the supply trenches. As a result, the rations of soup, rum, and tobacco are gone, and the men in the supply party are all dead.