Exactly as Volpatte decries the new inequalities he saw when you find yourself an effective hospitalized convalescent on the males away from their squadron, Poterloo, a fellow soldier on north, confesses toward narrator from inside the emotionally billed address just what most occurred when he saw their wife throughout the their history head to home: just have been it unable to satisfy because the structured, he glimpsed their seated ranging from a couple of Italian language sub-officers during the their parents‘ house, and you will she is actually smiling. In the culmination away from his story, Poterloo’s quick phrases belie their deepest low self-esteem as follows: „She’s slightly more youthful, you are sure that; she actually is twenty-six. She are unable to keep this lady childhood within the . It’s life. She life“ (Around Fire 158-59). Poterloo’s account for this reason verbalizes new soldiers‘ very real concern about with an enthusiastic unfaithful otherwise threatened lover yourself while they’re engaged into the treat at the front end. Barbusse’s observations away from his comrades during the competition with his recall of conversations included in this throw the men inside the a great naturalistic white: their everyday sufferings throughout the trench warfare, the battle since the a death servers, this new concepts you to definitely fortify the people into the handle, civil misconceptions about the side, new similarity between people aside from nationality, are all integrated right here. He shows themselves is a smart observer of situations around him and you may good listener into guys whom put out its hearts so you can him, including Volpatte and Poterloo, whoever reports animate the narrator’s account of conflict from inside the Ce Feu. Inasmuch because Barbusse’s talking about the results regarding combat toward people displays verisimilitude, their narrative stance impacts the reader just like the unrealistic. Although not meticulously he might provides kept his very own record, however not have recorded occurrences at the same time as they took place: the new narrator since a great soldier must fulfill their own requirements within the combat. At best, Barbusse will have must rebuild occurrences once they happened and you will recall the contents of dialogues towards better of their ability. Therefore, the double classification out of Ce Feu just like the an initial-people membership and you can a manuscript that Barbusse themselves bestowed with this publication grabs both its seeing for the truth on the trench warfare during the Very first Globe Combat and you will Barbusse’s advancement when you look at how to delete chemistry account the retelling new incidents.
Twentieth-first century critics and scholars of the novel have reconsidered the issue of genre, and posited that the best term for Le Feu is „chronicle“ because of its portrayal of fictionalized characters facing authentic historical events as they actually occurred. They also criticized the extent to which Barbusse homogenized the soldiers‘ war experiences. Today’s psychological terminology associated with war, such as post-traumatic stress disorder can also be applied to Barbusse’s novel of his fellow soldiers‘ experiences. Such detail acknowledges the author’s awareness of early twentieth-century treatment ideas for the treatment of shell shock, also known as „soldier’s neurosis“ (see, e.g., Crocq and Crocq). Frederick W. Mott, for example, studied the cases of hundreds of wounded British and French First World War soldiers in a London convalescent hospital and advocated subsequently that patients facing mental challenges such as nightmares and paranoia from the war be rehabilitated through electro-shock, reeducation, and discipline (xiii-xvi). Mott’s contemporary, W.H.R. In a 1917 speech, Rivers argued for the „cessation“ of the repression of painful war memories because of his outstanding results with soldiers who had been permitted to relive their war experiences in cognitive therapy sessions with him (< estu/wwi/comment/rivers.htm>).