Prisoner of War

The novel opens with Hornblower, Bush, Brown and indeed hundreds of English sailors, as prisoners of war. Throughout Chapters 1 through 15 of the novel, Hornblower is a prisoner of war; it is not until he effects his escape in the Witch of Endor that his status changes. For the first three chapters Hornblower agonizes over his status—after all, as a young man, he languished in a Spanish prison as a prisoner of war for many, many months, and here again is in the same situation. He learns that the French government has issued a verdict of guilty in absentia for piracy. Hornblower and Bush are under a death sentence; as prisoners of war they are stripped of legal formalities and must simply accept the verdict. Chapters 4 through 6 see Hornblower, Bush and Brown moving through the French countryside on their voyage to Paris. They are treated...