The protagonist of this light-hearted anti-war story by Muriel Spark is an omniscient baby who can “tune in” to world events and the thoughts of famous people from her crib. Born in the final year of World War I, she contrasts the bloody battlefields of Europe with the almost business as usual atmosphere in London. She also shares her observations of selected world leaders, politicians, literary figures and celebrities. Themes: the horrors and futility of war; the British public’s ignorance of the true extent of human suffering; the lack of moral leadership from influential members of the artistic community.
Original Text / PDF / Audio (2,429 words)
The story makes much of the fact that the baby is so affected by the war that she doesn’t smile for the first year of her life. This device draws attention to the fact that it is not a birthday candle or the end of the war that brings on her first smile, but a politician’s hypocrisy in declaring that: All things have become new. In this great cleansing and purging it has been the privilege of our country to play her part…
This self-congratulatory statement was flawed on two levels. Little was cleansed and purged in Europe. The so-called “War to End War” failed to deliver. There has been conflict after conflict ever since, and Germany was to rise again to spark an even greater war. Moreover, little “became new” inside Britain. Remnants of the Empire still existed, with the government continuing to subjugate and exploit its dominions in Africa and British India. A very perceptive baby !!!