Study Guide

The Wanting Seed Part 5, Chapter 8

By Anthony Burgess

Part 5, Chapter 8

As Tristram waits for the inevitable battle and/or explosion that will kill him and the others, he asks Corporal Haskell how a man might make his way from Ireland back towards England.
Soon, the men hear noises coming from the trenches opposite them. Tristram realizes that there is a real "enemy" after all, but it's not clear who it is.
Tristram's commanding officer declares that the men will begin an attack at 2200 hours.
When the moment comes, both sides attack simultaneously. Amidst the chaotic bloody violence, Tristram suddenly realizes who the enemy is: battalions of English women.
When another soldier is shot dead and topples onto Tristram, Tristram decides to stay underneath the dead man's body, and to wait out the battle if he can.
The women take the trench, and Tristram pretends to be dead as he lies on the ground beneath the bodies of his fellow soldiers.