Generals Die In Bed

The narrator and some 700 Canadian soldiers march for the grimy French mill town of Béthune, where they wait to begin leave. They sing smutty, dark-humored songs as they march. The soldiers look forward to food, wine, and hiring sex workers. Before they can start their leave, however, they are required to stand for inspection by the chief of staff. The general is old and tired. One of the men says, “Generals die in bed” (80). All the men except for Anderson hold contempt for the generals and the upper class in general.

After a few days without fatigues, the narrator takes to walking along the French roads at night. He eventually ends up at the home of a peasant family. After the daughter of the family asks the narrator to give her father a supply of tobacco, she takes him to her bed. In the morning, the narrator quickly returns to his unit and discovers they have been granted leave in London.

In London, the narrator meets a woman named Gladys. They go to a vaudeville show where the performers tell jokes about the war with scantily clad women dancers. The narrator is uncomfortable with the experience and notices that many of the men in the