ABSTRACT
Buchan’s most celebrated work is as much concerned with the problems of citizenship and masculinity as it is with the Great Game. At the end of Th e Half-Hearted, its hero Lewis Haystoun dies a heroic death, having overcome debilitating character aws de ned by the title of the novel. In the concluding sentence of Th e Th irty-Nine Steps, Richard Hannay expresses personal satisfaction for his role in solving the enigma within the novel’s title. ‘But I had done my best service, I think, before I put on khaki.’2 Hannay had served his country impeccably, but he had also served himself by bringing out the better qualities of his nature and overcoming negative features within his own personality.
