ABSTRACT
Ford presents the romantic illusions of peace and stability before the war in order to tear holes in them. The myth of civilization Ford creates in Parade's End emphasizes the reverse side of narcissistic aggression in its emphasis on masochistic passivity, the wish to be destroyed along with the world. Ford's narrative strategies and figural motifs insist on the repetitive disruption of stable representations, showing how both war trauma and the traumatic nature of sexuality inscribe themselves on the characters' lives. One of the ways Ford creates this effect is by emphasizing not just the classic impressionist techniques but a new wartime impressionism that seeks to register the impact of war experience on the mind. One might argue that Ford links the two 'transports' of war and passion so that he can suggest that one mode of transport can be manipulated, channeled, even sublimated, in order to stave off or mitigate the effects of the other.
