Cerberus: Guy in Crete

his driver, b ut he stumbles over the steps at the entrance of the billet:

He[Guy] dropped the papers, breaking the frail bond of knitting -wool which held them together and saved himself from falling onl y b y clutching at the departing driver. A great gust of wind came as they stood embracing and bore away the treasonable documents, scattering them high in the darkness. (SHT 297)

In this scene, the documents scattering in the air overlap with the bird which Scylla metamorphosed into and flew away. Also, the bond of wool which Katie used to fix the papers overlaps with the lock of the hair of Scylla’s father. Moreover, Katie never again appears in the novel after this scene, and Guy also never cares about her but leaves for Crete, his next place of appointment. This situa tion also resembles the ending of the story of Scylla and Minos. The association of Katie with Scylla emphasizes the association of Guy with Minos.

Thus, the dogs on the Isle of Mugg are depicted as heralds of m ythological monsters and of an abortive affai r, far different from the warm bond between a man and his dog that they represent in England. Their role also can be read as an omen of the sufferings which await Guy.

Furthermore, by featuring two Scyllas, the comparison of Guy with Minos, the king of Crete, becomes clear. This comparison has a more significant meaning in the Battle of Crete, which is described in the latter half of Officers and Gentlemen.

The relations of men with dogs in Guy ’s next post Crete are

described more sym bolicall y. In Book Two of Officers and Gentlemen, X Commando, to which Guy belongs, is dispatched to Crete, one of the

fiercest battlefields in the Second World War.^{1 4} Guy has three colleagues in X Commando and they become more significant characters for him during his time in Crete. All of the three soldiers have characteristics relating to dogs. Their peculiar relations with dogs must be closel y examined to clarify the symbolism of dogs used in this novel.

The first case to be examined is Ivor Claire , the soldier whom Guy first meets on the Isle of Mugg. Injured in training, Clair is l ying down with a turban and slippers hemstitched with gold threads, on a sofa which is covered with a Turkish carpet. His elegant and decadent appearance is

described: “[t]he pictorial effect was of a young prince of the Near East in his grand divan in the earl y years of the century ” (SHT 276). He has a white Pekinese, with which he is strongl y infatuated. He habitually wipes its eyes with a silk handkerchief, and, when h e receives a command to the front, he spends more time arranging to send the Pekinese home than packing his belongings (SHT 312). Before the war, Claire and Guy were in the same club in London. Bedazzled by Claire ’s beaut y, orientalistic decadence, gracefulness as a quintessential English gentleman, and sportsmanship as a horseman, Guy grows to love and respect him highl y:

Guy remembered Claire as he first saw him in the Roman spring in the afternoon sunlight amid the embossing cypresses of the Borghese Gardens, putting his horse faultlessl y over the jumps, concentrated as a man in prayer. Ivor Claire, Guy thought, was the

fine flower of them all. He was quintessential England, the man Hitler had not taken into account, Guy t hought. (SHT 342)

Thus, a dog lover, Ivor Claire, fascinates Guy with a kind of feigned

English heart. However, later, his real nature is exposed to be as mean as a dog in Crete.

The second person related with a dog is Major Hound, who joins X Commando in Egypt . Even his n ame, Hound, indicates his connection with a dog. He appears at first as a soldier who “was not clever enough to pass into the civil service ” (SHT 347), and, naturall y, he functions as a com ic relief, lacking intelligence. But in Crete, his personalit y begi ns to collapse.

Suffering stress from frequent air raids, chronic lack of sleep, and diminished consciousness from lack of provisions, Hound graduall y

becomes insane. He even pesters his subordinate for food in front of other soldiers, including Guy. Waugh , without mercy, describes Hound as being probed and tempted: whether he will keep his pride as an officer or degrade himself like a dog which begs food servilel y:

Not Guy or the ragged, unshaven Sergeant, not Fido [Major Hound] himself who was dizz y with hunger and lack of sleep, nor anyone on that fragrant hillside could know that this was the moment of probation. Fido stood at the parting of the ways.

Behind him lay a life of blameless professional progress; before him the proverbial alternatives: the s teep path of dut y and the heady precipice of sensual appetite. It was the first great temptation of Fido ’s life. He fell. (SHT 405)

Like Jesus in the New Testament, who was tempted by Devil, Hound is forced to make a choice: keep his pride, or else yi eld to his appetite.

However, unable to resist the temptation, Hound chooses the way of the beast, which draws contempt from everyone there, and requires him to abandon his pride. His nickname, Fido, trul y shows his character. Hound has told Guy that he wants to be called “Fido,” because it is his nickname.

Fido, a common name for a dog, is apparentl y derived from his surname.

However, from the moment when he puts into words these two names, Hound and Fido, they begin to be mixed up with each other in Officers and Gentleman. Hound is called Fido even in the narration and his behaviors are described like the actions of dogs: “Fido raised his muzzle ” (SHT 416),

“His tail was right down ” (SHT 416). The depiction of a human graduall y turning into a beast without kno wing it like this reminds readers of the cases described in Metamorphoses with horror.

The third person to be linked to a dog is Corporal -Major Ludvic, who was Claire’s former subordinate. He also joins X Commando in Egypt, and in Crete he is assigned unde r Guy. He secretl y goes out, shoots Hound who has already become insane and strayed away, and returns to Guy. His

strange deeds like these are all merel y because Ludvic wants to escape from the madness of the battlefield. Ludvic loyall y follows Guy like a dog, and, when a group of soldiers on the verge of death, including them, escape from Crete in a boat, he pushes all the crew into the sea except Guy (SHT 457-58) and then disappears into Egypt. He then reappears in the third volume of the trilogy, Unconditional Surrender, with a Pekinese “Fido” named after the man he killed. His ruthlessness and loyalt y are two sides of the same

coin, and he clings to Guy throughout the rest of the trilogy like a dog.

Given that Guy experiences the fierce battle in Crete w ith these three soldiers, who are all related to dogs, the comparison of Guy with Minos in Greek m ythology m ust be considered again. According to Homer ’s Odyssey, after death Minos becomes a judge in Hell, who punishes the dead

according to the seriousness of their crimes committed in this world (204).

Accompanying him is the famous dog in Hell, Cerberus, the three -headed monster dog. It is described in Virgil ’s Aeneid that Minos takes Cerberus along him when he judges the dead (158 -59). So, Guy with his th ree colleagues, all connected to dogs, can be compared with Minos

accompanied by Cerberus. The parallel between Guy and Minos, first seen in Scotland, still continues in Crete. That is, Guy in Scotland is compared with the living Minos, whereas Guy in Cret e is compared with Minos in the afterlife. Hence, it is vital to consider whether Guy succeeds or not in carrying out the role of Minos, the judge holding the scales to measure people’s sins. This is the last and most critical trial for Guy in Officers and Gentleman.