Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Boy Jack, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bravery, Duty, and Honor
Parental Expectations
Patriotism and the British Empire
Loss and Resilience
Summary
Analysis
Two weeks after Rudyard gives his recruitment speech, Elsie drills him with questions in the drawing room of their home. She has just been away for three weeks and was bewildered to discover that, in that time, Jack went off to the war. She wants to know how this happened, reminding her father that Jack can hardly see anything without his glasses. Rudyard tries to brush off her concern, focusing on the country’s need for soldiers. Angered by his callousness, Elsie appeals to her mother, but Carrie is purposefully keeping herself out of the conversation by meticulously cataloguing the books on the shelves.
Although Carrie has already hinted at her disapproval of Jack going to war, she doesn’t outwardly express her misgivings. Elsie, on the other hand, doesn’t hesitate to address the fact that both the navy and the army had a good reason to reject Jack: his poor eyesight could put him—and others—in danger on the battlefield. Because he’s so obsessed with the idea of Jack serving his country, though, Rudyard doesn’t want to consider this possibility, instead simply taking pleasure in the fact that Jack was finally able to join the army.
Themes
Rudyard watches out the window for Jack, who is supposed to come home for a short while. Seeing his son, Rudyard excitedly leaves the room to greet him, at which point Carrie pulls Elsie aside and hisses that she’s horrified that Jack has joined the army. She can’t stop thinking about him dying in battle, especially since two of Jack’s friends have already been killed. But because she can’t change the situation, she hasn’t said anything about it.
The fact that Carrie has to bury her feelings about Jack going to war indicates that Rudyard doesn’t leave her any room to express her concerns. Instead of encouraging his wife to articulate her worries, then, Rudyard focuses on his own lofty ideals about bravery and duty, and this repressive attitude forces Carrie to suffer in silence, worrying all the while that Jack will die in battle.
Themes
As soon as Jack enters the drawing room, Elsie notices that he looks much older. He has a mustache now, and he’s invigorated by his life as a lieutenant in the Irish Guards. He tries to answer his father’s proud questions about military life, but Elsie keeps interrupting, demanding to know how Jack and Rudyard managed to get around the army’s decision not to let Jack enlist. It soon emerges that Rudyard appealed to an old friend with great influence, and this helped get Jack into the Irish Guards.
Unable to get Jack into the army any other way, Rudyard used his own connections to sidestep the complications keeping Jack out of the military. In other words, he got Jack into the army in a somewhat dishonorable way, using nepotism and his own prestige to break the rules. Given that Rudyard believes so strongly in the idea of honor and dignity, it’s ironic that he behaves dishonorably just so Jack can join the military. It also shows how badly Rudyard wants to see Jack fighting for England.
Themes
As she thinks about this, Elsie remembers that Rudyard’s important friend recently died. She quickly puts it together that Rudyard convinced him to assert his influence while he was on his deathbed and in a state where it would have been impossible for him to argue the point. Reiterating the fact that multiple officials decided it was too risky to send Jack into battle, Elsie tells her father that it will be his fault if Jack dies.
As if it wasn’t already dishonorable for Rudyard to bypass the rules by convincing his friend to let Jack into the Irish Guards, it now emerges that he did this when his friend was in a compromised state of mind. For someone who supposedly cares so much about honor, then, he behaves in a surprisingly shady way in order to get Jack into the military, revealing a certain amount of hypocrisy.
Themes
Get the entire My Boy Jack LitChart as a printable PDF.
Rudyard justifies his behavior by saying that Elsie doesn’t understand how dire the situation is in England right now. The country has spent the past 150 years building up what he calls a “family of nations.” Some of the nations in this “family” can protect themselves, but some can’t, since they’re like helpless children. England must therefore act with the responsibility of a parent and defend these vulnerable countries.
Rudyard was willing to break the rules to get Jack into the military because he believes England’s global power is at stake. To illustrate this claim, he sets forth some patronizing ideas about the value of imperialism (the policy of exerting power over other nations or regions). According to him, the world is better off because the British Empire has colonized so many other regions. With this belief in mind, then, Rudyard thinks protecting the country is more important than anything else—including, of course, following the rules set forth by the military (like the medical standards that prevented Jack from enlisting).
Themes
Responding to Rudyard’s idea that Britain is responsible for a great “family of nations,” Elsie points out that this “family” was created for England’s financial benefit. Rudyard doesn’t deny this, instead arguing that this is precisely why the British Empire has been so successful: it has combined kindness and virtue with its own business interests. The countries under its power have benefited not just “spiritually,” but also economically.
Rudyard has a romanticized idea of the British Empire and the power it has exerted over other countries. In his mind, everyone has benefitted as a result of England’s rampant colonialism. Instead of recognizing that England itself reaps way more benefits than the vast majority of the places it has overtaken, he takes the self-congratulatory perspective that the country has done the rest of the world a favor by conquering so many nations. This perspective aligns with the imperialist beliefs that Rudyard Kipling held in real life.
Themes
Elsie is incensed by the idea that Rudyard would care more about preserving the British Empire than about protecting his own son. She then heavily insinuates to Rudyard that Jack only went to war to get away from the family, not because he cares about the British Empire. But Rudyard ignores this, believing that, until Germany is defeated, the British must go on putting their children at risk by sending them to battle.
To Rudyard, protecting England is worth making great sacrifices. If that includes sending Jack to war, then so be it. Elsie, on the other hand, hates the idea of Jack possibly dying in battle, especially since she knows that he didn’t even go to war for the express purpose of saving England—rather, he went to get away from Rudyard. Elsie therefore resents her father for being so domineering that Jack is willing to risk his life just to get away from home.
Themes
Carrie suddenly erupts into rage because somebody has come into the family’s yard and wants to snap a picture of Rudyard. When Elsie takes her out of the room, Jack admits to Rudyard that it’s a little frightening that two of his friends have already died. But Rudyard assures Jack that he won’t die, though he doesn’t say why, exactly, he’s so confident about this. Instead, he tells Jack that he knows what it’s like to lose a friend. Rudyard himself lost his best friend when he was a young man. This depressed him, but he now knows that the only way to get through hardship is to simply face the pain until it goes away. He even says that he envies Jack, who has the privilege of serving in the war.
Until now, Carrie has been more or less quiet throughout the entire scene. When she suddenly has an outburst of rage, though, it becomes clear that she has quite a bit of emotion bottled up inside of her—a reminder that she isn’t as comfortable with the idea of Jack going to war as Rudyard is. It also becomes apparent in this moment that Jack has some of his own misgivings about going to war, as evidenced by his reaction to the death of his fellow soldiers. However, Rudyard once again tries to get him to “buck up,” this time insisting that emotional pain is just something people have to bear. His response isn’t a particularly sympathetic one, but it perfectly aligns with Rudyard’s belief in the importance of showing grit and bravery.
Themes
