Alec: loyal and tragic
Despite the disapproval of his mother and Major Glendinning, Alec remains loyal to Jerry right to the end.
His mother’s attempts to break their bond fail as they continue their friendship in secret.
When Alicia disparageTo regard something as of little value. Jerry as one of “those sort of people” Alec defends his friend saying, “Jerry’s not stupid and he’s not a criminal”.
When Alec becomes an army officer he continues his friendship with Jerry. He includes him in horse riding with Bennett as he knows how much Jerry loves horses.
He saves him rum - the only thing that comforted soldiers in the horrific trench conditions - as he knows Jerry won’t have any and tells him to “Finish it. It’s all for you.”
He acts on Jerry’s behalf when he asks Glendinning if Jerry can have compassionate leave, even though he knows it will get him in trouble.
He also keeps quiet when he notices that Jerry has gone absent without leave.
In the end, Alec shows the ultimate loyalty when he is prepared to die to ensure his friend has a dignified death.
Tragic
Alec is a tragicTo do with catastrophic or sad events. character.
He dies at a young age, with only an unhappy childhood and an adulthood of war behind him.
He frequently talks about loneliness before meeting Jerry, and when he does find a companion his mother does everything she can to discourage their friendship.
The first time they meet he describes how they “lay and looked at the forbidden sun”, perhaps foreshadowing the fact that their friendship will never be accepted.
Indeed when Alec does escape the limitations of his cold family home, he is again separated from Jerry by rank because of their class difference.
Although there are episodes of joy in Alec’s short life - his times at the lake with Jerry and the freedom of horse riding, for example - there seems little hope from the beginning that he will ever be truly happy.
Johnston structures the novel so that each occasion of joy is followed by unhappiness - such as conflict with his mother, the horrors of war, or in the end the despair of shooting his friend in a final compassionateTo be caring towards and understanding of others. act.
At the end his acceptance that “They will never understand” suggests he has resigned himself hopelessly to the fact that there is nothing left to do but “sit and wait and write”.