Two Scyllas: Guy in Scotland

Not a few characters are described with their dogs in Officers and Gentlemen, who thus remind readers of the association with Homer ’s Odyssey and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In his first post Scotland, Guy

promptl y meets such characters. The association also features two women with the same name. One is a monster in the Odyssey and the other is a princess in Metamorphoses. The association of Scylla, i n turn, clarifies that Guy is compared with Minos, King of Crete in Greek m ythology.

Guy’s gentle father, Mr. Crouchback, is the first person who is described with his dog in Officers and Gentlemen. In Men at Arms, he is staying in a small hotel during war time with his Labrador retriever, after selling his country house by auction. In Officers and Gentlemen, Mr.

Crouchback selects American foods sent from his grandsons, checking if they are edible for dogs. His tender affection toward his dog gives the

impression of a warm relationship between a British gentleman and a dog in the midst of a war while his son, Guy, is taking part in fierce battles

overseas.

This depiction of Mr. Crouchback and his dog is, however, a precursor of another connection between an old man and his dogs. In Officers and Gentlemen, Guy first goes to the Isle of Mugg, a fictitious island in Scotland, assigned as a member of the newl y formed X

Commando. Guy and his superior officer are invited for dinner by the lord of the isle. The lord and his wife who enter the hall with their six dogs are described as follows:

Six dogs, ranging in size from a couple of deerhounds to an

almost hairless Pomeranian, gave tongue in inverse proportion to their size. . . . Presentl y the piper, too, was hus hed and in the stunning silence an aged lady and gentleman emerged through the smoke. (SHT 288)

It is important to note that the number of dogs is specified as six. They make up a figure composed of the landlord and the lady, with the barking dogs at thei r feet, resembling a monster who has six heads of dogs hanging from the body, seen from the position of Guy who is sitting in front of them. This figure reminds readers of Scylla, the sea monster which has six dog heads like tentacles emerging from her body around the waist in

Homer’s Odyssey.^{1 3} Scylla is represented in the Odyssey as: “Her [Scylla’s]

legs – and there are twelve – are like great tentacles , unjointed, and upon her serpent necks are borne six heads like nightmares of ferocit y, with triple serried rows of fangs and deep gullets of black death ” (212). In Officers and Gentlemen, the lord is a senile bomb -maniac, and the Isle of Mugg is a solitary island which is “neglected by those romantic earl y-Victorian English ladies who so prodigall y enriched the balladry, folklore and costume of the Scottish Highlands ” (SHT 274). Scylla is a suitable figure to link such an eccentric figure to such an eccen tric island.

The name Scylla also leads us to another Scylla in classical

literature, a princess of Megara in Ovid ’s Metamorphoses (Ovid 179-83).

Although Megara was invaded by Minos, the king of Crete, Scylla falls in love with Minos at first sight. She c uts off a lock of her father ’s hair while he is sleeping and gi ves it to Minos as proof of her love. However,

disgusted with her deed, Minos stops the invasion and returns to Crete.

Scylla, humiliated and unable to return to Megara, turns into a sea eagle to fl y away. This episode of a noble woman who betrays her country for a man, but then receives cold treatment from him, is adapted in Officers and Gentlemen. When Guy sits at the dinner table, one of the lord ’s relatives, Katie Carmichael, places herself next to him. Katie, with her eccentric appearance and behavior, makes Guy unsure whether she is unstable or not.

His suspicions grow stronger when she scribbles “POLLITIC AL PR ISNER ” [sic] (SHT 293) on the tablecloth. She emphasizes that she is a trueborn Scottish and insults England, blurting out that “[w]hen the Germans land in Scotland, the glens will be full of marching men come to greet them, and the professors themselves at the universitie s will seize the towns ” (SHT 294). Yet, on the other hand, she favo rs Guy for unknown reasons during the dinner and puts a bunch of inflammatory documents calling for the defeat of England into Guy’s car. In this way, Katie as Scyll a tries to draw attention of Guy as Minos.

This episode reflects the political situation of Scotland in the 1930s.

Because of the declining population and increasing social problems after the First World War, Scottish nationalism was rising to power during the Second World War. Although in 1934 the Scottish National Part y was established, claiming independence from England, Scotland was

nevertheless forced to take part in the war under Churchill ’s government. It is intimated in the novel that young Katie is influenced by that dem and, and purposel y praises Germany in front of Guy and his superior officer, both English soldiers.

There is another scene which indicates the association of Katie with Scylla. On the next morning, Guy is handed the inflammatory documents by

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.