"The Absolutist" - by John Boyne Quiz

Answer: He fought in Vietnam

He actually fought in the First World War. The story begins in 1919, a year after the war's end. Tristan is traveling by train to meet Marion Bancroft, the sister of his deceased comrade-at-arms Will. Throughout this story we see painful flashbacks from Tristan's life.

His forced departure from home, his training in the army, and worst of all, his participation in the pointless bloodshed known at the time as "The Great War". (He also ponders fiction writing for a career during the train ride. But whether he does or not isn't revealed till later.)

Answer: Her brother had told her Tristan was killed in the war

Upon returning to England after November 11th 1918 one of the first things Tristan did was try to contact his late friend Will's family. He told Marion in his first letter he wanted to meet her to return letters she had sent Will - but it seems there is an ulterior motive.

At first he doesn't get a reply, but Marion eventually responds. She confesses she is surprised to hear from her late brother's friend Tristan. Will had written that he'd been killed as soon as they arrived in France! Tristan assumes Will lied about that because he was ashamed of their love-making prior to leaving England.

Afterwards the two boys remained firm friends in the trenches, though Will preferred to forget that for a short time they were more than friends.

Answer: His father literally threw him out

As it happens his sister DID die of a fever, but he didn't find out until much later. We get to see many flashbacks of Tristan's relatively-happy family life in the 1900-10s. His father was the local butcher and it was a nice town to grow up in. However when Tristan became a teenager he found himself more attracted to boys than girls. No one had told him the world was hugely prejudiced against that. So when he tried to kiss his best friend, the school informed his father, and within 24 hours his father disowned him, badly beat him and threw him out, telling him never to come back. Tristan finally returns, once his army training is over and he's about to ship out to France.

His father is not pleased to see him; in those days it was shameful to have a homosexual child. Tristan is angry no one wrote to tell him of his sister's death.

His father, although he only has one child left, simply looks at his son and says "Tristan, it would be better if you never returned from France."

Answer: He is a conscientious objector

Tristan meets Will Bancroft on the training grounds of Aldershot. They later become best mates. On their first day all new arrivals stand together and call their names out to the sergeant. When the unpleasant sergeant hears Arthur's name he recognises it straight away.

He sneers, and tells everybody this young man is a "conscientious objector" (sometimes called an "absolutist"). Arthur proudly admits it. He firmly believes the fighting can still be avoided by diplomacy. Although he may have been right, he is despised in his regiment.

In fairness, Arthur has followed procedure by registering as an objector and turning up for training anyway. But he is still regarded as a "feather man" which means a coward. Sometimes he returns to the barracks to find a feather on his pillow.

Answer: They are both considered cowards and murdered

Tristan and Will certainly take to each other straight away. At first they don't realise they both prefer boys, a great evil in the eyes of British society in those days. They mainly pal around one another, and sometimes discuss Arthur. Will admires Arthur for sticking up for what he believes in. Most believe Arthur will be reassigned as a stretcher-bearer, but one night Tristan is awakened by the sounds of scuffling. Next morning Arthur is gone, and reported later to have died outside town in an "accident". Both boys saw Arthur alive and well in his bunk that night. Will is outraged but Tristan prefers not to think about it.

Answer: Refused to fight

After fighting in the trenches nearly a year, few can deny what a pointless bloodbath this war really is. Each man keeps fighting anyway - until he becomes another statistic. Tristan and Will survive to see 1917 - but they also see more and more comrades dying (or transferred due to insanity). Eventually Will says "Enough!" and throws his gun down one day. Military justice was harsh in those days.

He is taken away by the MPs immediately, and treated like a German captive, if not worse.

Answer: Her wedding was cancelled

Poor Marion seems a really nice young woman. She had been all set to marry the son of a prosperous family. But when the news of Will's refusal to fight got around, people starting treating her family like lepers. The fiancee's family told him to forget her and even told people not to buy from Bancroft's Groceries. Eventually her father's grocery business recovered, but that was small comfort.

As she takes Tristan around her hometown showing him the various sites, she confesses she has been so unhappy ever since. Tristan understands.

This sort of shameful treatment is common. John Boyne perfectly illustrates what a no-win situation this war really was. Not just for troops, but their families back home. As Tristan finds out, even if one survives the war and returns home a hero, one is never the same again.

Answer: Only One - Tristan

When their new company arrives in the trenches in time for the infamous 1916 Somme Offensive, they are all confident and eager to do battle - until each man dies one by one, and even the officers begin to realise the true extent of the nightmare they've been flung into.

The harsh sergeant who trained them at Aldershot starts losing his nerve, if not his mind. Never-the-less he has no sympathy for people like Tristan, or especially Will, who speak their minds. The soldiers begin to regard this man as a worse enemy than Kaiser Wilhelm. Will still knows the sergeant was involved in the death of Arthur Wolf, though no one can prove it.

Answer: He shot Will

Will is held under guard, sentenced to death. Tristan was recovering from wounds in hospital and missed the court-martial. But shortly afterwards he assaults a new recruit, and becomes Will's cell-mate as punishment. Tristan's only there 24 hours but the two young men have a terrible argument - their worst ever.

They've been intimate since coming to France, but once again Will wants to pretend it never happened. He still fervently rejects Tristan's feelings for him, and Tristan is furious (not least because the man he loves is clearly denying his orientation and hates him for being a reminder).

He feels awful pangs of rejection and jealously he hadn't thought possible - especially amidst death and destruction. He feels Will's betrayal is the worst pain he's ever felt - more so than being shot. Later, after Tristan is released, Will is finally taken out blindfolded to a firing squad.

The stressed commander is looking around for a sixth man to join the squad, but one cannot be found...until Tristan volunteers.

When Will is tied to the stake and the blindfold removed...the last thing he sees is his best friend about the pull the trigger. In the last few seconds of his life, he finally realises how much he'd hurt Tristan. But now it's too late... So, years later Tristan is now confessing this guilty secret to Marion. Marion screams abuse and all but chases Tristan to the train station, telling him to go back to London. He doesn't see her again for a very long time.

Answer: False

All chapters but the final one do. Our story zooms forward to 1979, when Tristan has just turned 81 and is looking back on his career as a successful author. He frequently says throughout this chapter he never expected to live so long - not least because of the brutal war he fought in as a young man. To his surprise he meets Marion again, now a great-grandmother, in London.

She has not completely forgiven him for shooting her brother, but over the years she realised The Great War was such a horrible vicious circle no one can be faulted (except perhaps, the various politicians on both sides that were eager for it). Tristan is honest too.

He confesses he is unhappy. For 60 years he has lead a lonely life, which large book sales did not alleviate.

He does not even have a "companion"; he never met anyone he cared for more than Will. Naturally he's also felt guilty all these years about the firing squad. After the two oldsters part that evening, Tristan returns miserably to his hotel room. He then finishes his final manuscript, about his WW1 days.

He adds it will probably be found on the carpet next to his body. He'd packed a pistol in his suitcase before coming to London...