Line #27 Literature/SevenMenOfGascony


1	This is a tale by R. F. Delderfield chronicling the deeds of a group of Napoleonic soldiers. It starts with an OldSoldier telling stories to a priest. Then it jumps back to the soldier's memory of when he was a Gascon boy with artistic instincts, named Gabriel. Gabriel enlists in the French army, in the realization that {{conscription}} would find him sooner or later. He joins a squad of men and a pretty camp follower named Nicholette. Their adventures continue to and fro and, in the end, Gabriel and Nicholette are the only survivors and they marry and retire into respectable civilian life. At the end, the scene returns to the old soldier, Gabriel, who gives his sketches to the priest for the benefit of posterity.
2	----
3	!! This story provides examples of:
4	* AFatherToHisMen : Sergeant Jean is this to TheSquad.
5	* AnyoneCanDie: And almost everyone does.
6	* BattleCouple: Nicholette was part of ''three'' battle couples. Or to put it another way, she was "married" to TheSquad and it sent three successive representatives. ItMakesSenseInContext.
7	* CartwrightCurse: Nicholette. Justified.
8	* CelibateHero: Sergeant Jean is never shown seeking feminine companionship except in a fatherly(to Nicholette) or brotherly(to Nicholette's mother) way.
9	* {{Conscription}}
10	* ChildSoldiers: Nicholette was raised in camp and followed the French army all her life.
11	* CannonFodder : The character's profession.
12	* DeathGlare: Nicholette is good at this. It is a useful way of avoiding giving favors she does not wish to give.
13	* FriendlySniper: The whole [[TheSquad squad]], as they are in a light-infantry unit.
14	* LadyOfWar: The ''cantiniere'' (wine-seller) Nicholette. RealLife ''cantinieres'' couldn't afford to be ladylike of course, but Nicholette carries herself with as much grace as she can manage.
15	* [[MarriedAtSea Married in Army Camp]]: Nicholette's first marriage is to a member of TheSquad until he dies. Sergeant Jean handles the wedding, by an army custom which we are assured is respected more than a canonical wedding.
16	* MarriedToTheJob : Sergeant Jean is to dedicated to soldiering to worry about women.
17	* MenAreTheExpendableGender: All the squad dies except Gabriel. Nicholette of course survives.
18	* MoralMyopia: How dare Spaniards, Russians, and Germans, not appreciate the gift of having the French Army as guests!
19	* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Sergeant Jean to Napoleon. Typical of a Napoleonic soldier of legend.
20	* OldSoldier: Sergeant Jean, later Gabriel. Nicholette is this at 16.
21	** Nicholette's mother, too, though she unlike her daughter is not a LadyOfWar, as she is unladylike. But she taught Nicholette how to survive on campaign.
22	* OneOfTheBoys: Nicholette
23	* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Nicholette makes several consecutive marriages out of convenience even though they are JustFriends. It is a necessity for a woman surrounded by thousands of young men. As it happens she is satisfied, or at least uninterested in alternatives.
24	** More precisely, her first husband drowned, her second was executed for desertion, and Gabriel was the last one, with whom she retired into civilian life.
25	** Her first marriage was decided by lot but Nicholette secretly asked that it be rigged in favor of the man she thought would bother her the least because she only had a minor interest in it at the time.
26	* SergeantRock: Sergeant Jean
27	* TheSquad
28	* {{Tearjerker}}
29	* TrueCompanions
30	* WarIsHell
31	* WarIsGlorious
32	* WarriorPoet: Gabriel is a warrior-artist who draws sketches of his experiences.

Context Literature / SevenMenOfGascony