The Four Feathers Literary Elements

Historical fiction, Thriller, Adventures

The events of the story take place alternately between England and Ireland on the one hand, Sudan and Egypt on the other during the period of the Mahdist war between 1881 and 1899.

Third person omniscient point of view in which the narrator is all-seeing, all-knowing, and has access to the consciousness of the different characters.

The tone of the novel is serious and grave, while the mood is tense and suspenseful.

The protagonist of the novel is Harry Feversham, a young officer wronged and falsely accused of cowardice. There is no specific antagonist in the book. Instead the deed is shared by several characters who are themselves victims of prejudice and societal norms. Thus, the blame is put on the late 19th century English society and its misleading conventions.

It is the clash between Harry’s desire of leaving the army and the misunderstanding created by societal norms towards such a decision, which ultimately led to his rumored cowardice, social disgrace, and the calling off of his engagement.

The story reaches its climax when Harry Feversham and Captain Trench manage to escape the prison house but are not yet out of danger. Then, the hopes and misgivings of the pair are at their highest. On the one hand, Feversham’s only opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of his friends is by bringing Captain Trench safe and sound back to England. On the other, Trench himself is assailed by the dread of being recaptured.

“But the fire took hold upon the telegram and shook it, so that it moved like a thing alive and in pain”

This quote foreshadows the massive pain that was in store for Feversham subsequent to his decision concerning the telegram. He withheld its content from his companions, but they only interpreted this as cowardice. Although nothing but an inanimate object, the telegram itself seems to be in pain which predicts all the trouble pouring upon Feversham’s head on its account.

When Lieutenant Sutch met young Feversham for the first time, he was able to see through his troubles, for which reason he asked him whether there was anything the boy would like to confide in him as a friend. Despite the overflowing turmoil of his soul, Harry answered in the negative saying, “It is kind of you. There is nothing”. This is an understatement, for in reality Harry’s internal conflict was too tense and strong at the time, and yet he chose to disregard it and say it was nothing.

“The holy angels had done that, not a single shot was fired, not a single spear thrown by the Mahdi’s soldiers. The spears flew from their hands by the angels’ guidance and pierced the unbelievers”

This is an allusion to the religious beliefs of the Mahdist soldiers at the time; namely that angels of the Lord would assist them and fight by their sides in battlefields.

“He was a dark lantern to her. There might be a flame burning within, or there might be mere vacancy and darkness. She was pushing back the slide so that she might be sure.”

The imagery in this passage includes the use of metaphors such as “He was a dark lantern to her”. In addition to that, the use of words appealing to the sense of the reader like “burning” and “vacancy” emphasizes the depth of Durrance’s character and induces the reader to join Ethne in the analysis of his discourse and personality.

The story is based upon the contradiction of accusing the hero of the tale of cowardice. Harry Feversham is declared a coward by Captain Trench, and yet he is the only one who comes to the rescue of the latter in the prison house.

“From every corner men gaunt and thin as skeletons hopped and leaped as quickly as the weight of their chains would allow them towards the entrance.”

Metonymy: "You would have married me and hidden it, had not these three feathers come?"

Here, the term "feathers" stands not for the object itself but rather for the truth behind Harry's rumors. Ethne employed this term to enquire of him whether he was to marry her and hide the truth if she did not find out herself.

Synecdoche: “He rode away from the park with the old regret in his mind that the fortunes of himself and his friend were this morning finally severed.”

Here the term “fortunes” does not stand for the riches of both Durrance and Harry alone but extends to the whole sphere of their lives and friendship.

“Harry opened the door, the hall gaped black like the mouth of night”

Here, night is given a human characteristic, namely a mouth, and this is a figure of speech known as personification.