expression of that theme found in Bring Larks and Heroes, in the marriage of
Halloran and Anne Rush; that one can rely on a ‘craftier theology’ in the absence of
a priest.
(c) Gossip from the Unconscious
The plot in Gossip from the Forest is very cleverly woven by the use of
historical facts of the Armistice and some impressionistic character sketches of
significant individuals involved in it. I t takes up, thematically, what has been
treated in relation to A Victim of the Aurora: the effect on individuals and the
broader social implications of degenerating European empires. Here Keneally also
explores the theological and metaphysical significance of the word and its place in
human affairs using as his model the armistice documents of World War I , but this
novel too, provides the vehicle in which to introduce his perennial concern of the
apostate’s ‘craftier theology’. The protagonist, Marshall Foch, acts as a tabular rasa
onto which Jungian and mythic themes are projected and analysed. Foch dreams of
a forest, an activity which he synchronously shares with Matthias Erzberger, the
German plenipotentiary, the Foret de L’Aigle where the ceasefire signing will take
place, in railway carriage 2417D. I n the dream, youths play innocently until three
women, representing Britain, France and Germany, decorate them with military
ribbons; the young men immediately fall silent, strip and walk “...naked over the ivy
[ symbolizing womanhood] ... and the ribbons they had so easily accepted became
bleeding wounds” (Keneally, 1975:10-11). These intimate dream messages or
gossip are from the forest of the unconscious and establish the mythopoeic tone of
this work.
I n the character of the Jesuit educated Marshal Foch we have, as elsewhere
in the Keneally canon, a personification of the vindictive I nquisition monk, like those
in Verdi’s opera Don Carlos, who need to exercise power in determining punishment
and mortality to vindicate their own way of life; “... a fakir, a mad monk” (Keneally,
1975:215). He can “... meditate as effectively as any monk. He has certain psychic
powers” (Keneally, 1975:120). He had also published a treatise, The Principles of
Warfare, which reflects, “ ... in accordance with his temperament ... war as a moral
and mystical exercise” (Keneally, 1975:77). Clemenceau is another monk type
figure, “... a lonely and ascetic man, who has ... lived alone since his bankruptcy ...