By Saba Alam
Keywords: War literature, War poet, Transformation, Autobiography,
War memoir
Robert Graves was an English poet, novelist, critic, and classical scholar. Before 1914 he was a typical Georgian poet, but his war experiences made his poetry much deeper and more painful. Goodbye to All That is the autobiography of Robert Graves, written by him at the age of thirty-three. He has presented the book as a memoir, however, according to Paul Fussell, the level of exaggeration and fabrication in the text makes it more like a piece of fiction than a memoir. Robert Graves has taken a brutal approach toward war. His approach indicates how war has transformed him. The book shows the true effects of fighting on a person who experiences it. Like many other young people of that time, Robert Graves was also quite excited by the prospects of war, and thus, he enlisted in a local unit.
According to Jim Marsden, the transformation in a person occurs when he goes beyond the boundaries of his current understanding and awareness. When the world around a person shifts significantly, it results in transformational change. In his opinion, the journey of transformation begins with “The Call”, an event in life that tries to reach out to the person and grab his attention. “The Call” may occur subtly or as a sudden, unpredicted, or unwanted event. This Call offers an opportunity to explore what is unforeseen and unknown. It is a gateway to an adventure filled with opportunities to discover oneself.
As the person responds to “The Call”, he steps over the threshold. This Threshold is a movement of leaving the familiar surroundings and enter into a world of adventure, journey, and trials. Going along this journey, the person goes through death and dismemberment, which is shedding parts of one’s self that are no longer useful. The person says yes to life, makes choices and thinks his way through. As he descends, he sheds, ends, and clears away these things which served him earlier but are now useless. As he continues, he steps into a place of reflection, referred to as “ordeal”. It is a new beginning. On one side is the current life and on the other lies the future, coming towards him. In the graphic image above, the U's bottom is the time of not-knowing. The person continues with his journey of transformation with the insights and experiences of retreats and reflections. Another threshold is crossed with the commitment of bringing these insights and reflections to life. The journey takes the person to the new beginnings of life. He has fresh eyes and a new stance. He is more self-aware. He strives to bring forward his unique expressions and skills on his road back home. The process of learning is going side by side, by being and doing. Ultimately, the person pursues a life well lived, having come through the journey of transformation (Marsden).
The whole
life of Robert Graves is a journey, like every other person in this world,
however, in his life the World War I was a significant event. WWI began just
after he completed school. This is the time when a person has dreams to build
his life and career. Unfortunately, Graves has to join the army which affected
his mind as well as his health. The war played a major role in his
transformation. If it had not been for his traumatic experiences of war, his
life would have been completely different. Even after the war ended, he
suffered from its effects and all his future decisions of life were influenced
by his war experiences.
The autobiography of Robert Graves does not depict a life of a hero. Rather it shows the life of a common man who belonged to a religious family and had ideas to gain something in life based on his education. The major part of his autobiography was World War I, in which he participated just after finishing school. Although his transformation involves a few stages after the war, the major changes in his personality and attitude occurred during the war. Graves received the call and entered into the world of adventures, trials, opportunities, and learnings. He let go of his innocence and his sentimentality over things. After spending years as an officer in the war, he became mentally ill. He had seen such horrors of war that nothing horrible moved him anymore. He became paranoid and also got wounded.
However, Graves found a friend during the war which
provided him some solace. He got married and later on resigned from the
commission. He used his gift of writing poetry to give his message to the
world. The new beginnings in his life made him live a comfortable life after
the trauma of war. He completed his education, became a teacher, and moved
around the world. He continued to write poetry, essays, articles, translations,
etc. Robert Graves spent the rest of his life as a transformed person who lived
his life to a full extent.
