Guardsman Bowe Character Analysis

Bowe is a member of the Irish Guards who serves under Jack’s command. Originally from a farm in Ireland, he has trouble adjusting to the terror of life at war. On the night that Jack and the other Guards storm enemy lines, Bowe tries to avoid participating in the attack by claiming to be sick. However, his fellow soldiers, Doyle and McHugh, don’t let him return to the dugout, forcing him to stay and fight by their sides. Two years after Jack goes missing, Bowe comes to Rudyard’s house and tells the Kipling family what happened, explaining that he, Jack, and McHugh made it safely to the enemy trenches, at which point Jack insisted that they push on. As soon as they started running toward a large machine-gun post, though, a large blast threw Bowe into the trenches again, and he saw that Jack had been severely injured. He wanted to help, but McHugh convinced him to run away, and just in time—a shell exploded moments later, decimating Jack. Bowe’s failure to help Jack contrasts with Jack’s own fearlessness in the face of danger—an idea that at least allows Rudyard to feel that his son was brave.