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The war poet Siegfried Sassoon , who appears as a major character in the first book, '' Regeneration '', is relegated to a minor role in this final volume, in which the main players are the working-class officer, Billy Prior, and the real-life psychoanalyst, William Rivers . Thus Barker explores possible relationships between real people and fictional characters. Prior, despite his new-found peace of mind and engagement to munitions worker Sarah, is a sexual predator who does not hesitate to indulge in casual encounters. His only rule is that he never pays for sex - a rule he eventually breaks. This episode is a symbolic capitulation to the inevitability of his death at the Western Front , a fate he shares with the poet, Wilfred Owen . Rivers, concerned for Prior's safety, finally recognises that his relationship with Prior, and his other patients for that matter, is deeply paternal. In contrast with upper-class officers like Sassoon, with whom Rivers has been able to form warm friendships, he has always found Prior a thorn in his side. As Prior returns to the front, Rivers reminisces uncomfortably about his childhood and research expeditions as a young anthropologist. |
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