Essay Questions

Why was Kingsley jailed and why is this element of the story significant?

Kingsley was jailed for refusing to fight in World War I. Although Britain had a military at the time it was not nearly large enough to support an international war. Britain did not have a National Guard, or equivalent "part time" force either, and so the only answer was to "call up" ordinary citizens and demand that they serve. This they did with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Some were lined up outside the drafting office on day one, others went into hiding, hoping that the war would be over before they were discovered.

A man could be rejected from serving on health grounds, or rejected on grounds of age (too young, too old). Many who were opposed to participating in war at all were known as Conscientious Objectors, which meant that their conscience would not allow them to kill another human being, and therefore this made them more of a danger to their own men than a threat to the enemy on the battlefield. The accepted reasons for being a "conchie" were almost always on religious grounds. In particular, Quakers declared themselves to be conscientious objectors, but men of similar religious beliefs also refused to fight as well.

Kingsley was not a religious man to this extent, and did not seem to have any difficulty with the concept of killing another if it was necessary. His main objection to going to war was an intellectual one; he considers himself to be academically and intellectually superior to the majority of people. He cannot see any logical reason for the war, or for his participation in it, and therefore refuses to go. This is seen as refusing the Monarch, which was an offense. This is why he was jailed.

Why is Captain Shannon acting as Kingsley's "minder". Do you think he asked for the job?

Shannon is Kingsley's designated "minder" which means that he is in charge of supervising him, keeping him safe and making sure that he is able to carry out his murder investigation without getting killed doing it. He is Kingsley's shadow and sticks to him like glue. From his demeanor, and conversation, it seems that he resents this assignment, and that he has better things to do than assist a conscientious objector investigate the murder of a man he has come to think of as a coward. However, it is likely that he asked for the assignment because if he is in charge of Kingsley at all times, he can control to some degree where he goes, who he talks to and in this way what he finds out. He is also the main source of information for Kingsley at the start of the investigation which gives him the ability to send him off on another direction entirely than the one that will ultimately lead him to the identity of the killer.