Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Good Soldier, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Marriage and Infidelity
The Manipulation of Reality
Class and Traditional Morality
Religion
Summary
Analysis
John explains that August 4th is an important date for his story because, coincidentally, it is when significant events tend to happen. August 4th is when John and Florence were married, it is the day of Maisie’s death, and it is Florence’s birthday. Something important also happened on August 4th, 1913, although John does not say what.
It is difficult to know what to make of this coincidence. There are many times throughout the story where—if one is being uncharitable to John—it seems John is manipulating the truth. However, there is no reason for him to do so here, especially given that anyone could easily confirm these dates. As such, the coincidence appears to be genuine.
Themes
Literary Devices
Before continuing his story, John once again delves deeper into the past to explain how he and Florence came to be married. John met Florence at the home of a famous family and was immediately determined to marry her. After their first meeting, John regularly went to Florence’s house to pay her a visit, even though her aunts didn’t care for him. At first, John has a difficult time getting close to Florence. However, gradually, they developed a relationship, and Florence revealed her desires to John. During this time, she told John that she wanted an English husband of substantial means who could travel with her around Europe. She also hinted that she “did not want much physical passion in the affair.”
Florence set ground rules for her and John’s relationship from the start, though her rules are unreasonable. John knew that he was not Florence’s ideal man, yet they decided to marry anyway. Evidently, Florence just used John to get the English partner that she actually wanted.
Themes
Although John is not English, he knows he can provide Florence with the European lifestyle she desires. Eventually, Florence decides that this is good enough and tells her aunts that she plans to marry John. The next time John pays a visit to Florence, her aunts take him aside and beg him not to marry her. They even slander Florence and imply that she’s been with other men before. However, none of their protests work on John; eventually he and Florence marry.
The behavior of Florence’s aunts is another strange detail in John’s story. If it is an attempt to protect Florence, then it is a cruel way to do so. It seems unlikely that they want to protect John considering they do not like him. One explanation is that they want to keep Florence close to them so they can benefit from the fortune that will come her way when her Uncle John dies.
Themes
Only after their marriage did Florence mention her heart condition to John. At the time, John assumes that Florence’s weak heart is why her aunts didn’t want him to marry her. Together John and Florence board a boat to Europe, and immediately Florence’s heart acts up. They quickly find a doctor who tells them they cannot engage in sexual relations because doing so might hurt Florence’s heart. Much later in life, John learns through Leonora that Florence’s heart issues are entirely made up. In retrospect, he wonders if even her doctors were in on the ruse.
Florence’s manipulation of John mirrors the relationship between John and the reader. It is difficult to disentangle the truth from the lies and to know who is guilty and who is innocent.
Themes
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Florence and John arrive in Paris where Florence begins an affair with Jimmy, a cabin boy who Florence’s family previously employed. Together, Jimmy and Florence schemed ways to keep up the ruse of Florence’s delicate heart. Although previously John thought that Florence was never out of his sight, he realizes now that she was constantly out of his sight at Jimmy’s behest. While John thought he was leaving Florence alone so that she could rest, in reality, he was only enabling her affair with Jimmy. Like Florence, Jimmy is a selfish actor. Behind Florence’s back, he convinces John that even sailing the English Channel would be too much for Florence’s heart, so it would be better if they did not risk it. This advice flies directly in the face of Florence’s plans to live out her life in England.
This section is one of several times where John contradicts a previous statement. Although he often offers contradictory statements without acknowledging it, here he openly admits to misstating the truth. The question is whether he does so to represent his own genuine confusion or to further mislead the reader. Additionally, at a previous point in this chapter, John implies that he and Florence do not have a love life because she is looking for an Englishman to take as her lover. Yet here she is willing to settle for a man who is American and outside her social class. Again, this could be Florence’s manipulation and not John’s, but the details and implications littered throughout the story do not cohere as well as John seems to think they do.
Themes
While reflecting on Florence’s affairs, John tells a story that he thinks set the tone for their relationship. Before departing for England, John gave a suitcase with Florence’s heart medicine to his servant, Julius. When Julius learned he wouldn’t be accompanying John to England, he dropped the case. Enraged that he would be so careless with Florence’s medicine, John brutally beat Julius in front of Florence. John thinks this incident might have made Florence afraid he would “murder her.”
This is another moment that readers could point to if they wanted to make the case that John harbors violent tendencies. Despite his claims of moral purity, John behaves barbarically in a manner that shocks Florence. In fact, this incident is impossible to square with the otherwise gentle and naive portrait that John paints of himself. However, whether this incident proves that John is capable of murder is up for debate.
Themes
John returns to contemplating Florence’s affairs. He cannot fathom how she would fall in love with Jimmy. He considers Jimmy a worse man in every way compared to himself. However, he understands her love for Edward. John reiterates Edward’s many great qualities, including his good looks and charitable sensibility. Then, John turns his focus to a new character: Nancy Rufford. Nancy is a young girl for whom the Ashburnhams act as guardians. Nancy admires Edward greatly and when she comes of age, Edward starts to admire her in return. Leonora immediately worries that Edward will pursue Nancy, and she implies as much to John. However, at the time, John is still utterly oblivious to Edward’s behavior, and so he assures Leonora that Edward is a faithful husband who never so much as bats an eye at another woman.
Here, John seems to realize the inconsistency is his story regarding Jimmy. Again, like the rest of his inconsistencies, it is difficult to tell if it is due to natural human error or a deliberate attempt to mislead readers. Meanwhile, Edward’s pursuit of Nancy turns him into an irredeemable character. Although John will continue to express sympathy for Edward and reference his sentimental attitude, his relationship with Nancy is a step too far. Such a relationship would have been just as scandalous to Ford’s readers in 1915 as it is today, rendering Edward extremely unlikable. The question, then, is why John continues to defend him. Here, he defends Edward to Leonora because he is not yet aware of Edward’s infidelity. However, even when speaking in the present tense, John expresses sympathy for Edward.
Themes
