Sequamur: Characters

• Sequamur focuses on a protagonist, William J. Gibson. The character is based on a real man who was headmaster of the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway.
• Although the other characters are important in their own right, their significance in the play is in their interactions with Gibson and how his opinions are transformed over time.
• Characters can appear in the story as real characters, as memories of their earlier lives, or as the ghosts of those who have died.

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William J. Gibson was a real person. He lived in Stornoway for a period and was the headmaster, or rector, of the Nicolson Institute between 1894-1925. However, it is the character of William J. Gibson as portrayed in the play that is crucial.

In the opening scene, Gibson comes over as pompous. His first comments, quoting Homer and Sophocles, reflect the concepts of death and remembrance, but suggest that Gibson is interested only in intellectual ideas, and is emotionally detached from the reality of the lives that have been lost:

"They died that we might live." Just as the plaque says. There's no sense on brooding on anything else." (Scene 1)

He seems certain that he has excellent memory, and that he remembers every boy from the school who was killed in World War One. The way he talks about this again suggest this is a purely mental process:

All ticked off and present in the register." (Scene 1)

The way he reels off information about pupils who have died reduces them to a series of facts that he has memorised, as if something learned in class.

When he encounters Mrs Finlayson, who is upset that her son's name does not appear on the memorial, he is thrown by the realisation that he may have forgotten one of his pupils.

He still doesn't come to mind no matter how often I scramble for him in my thoughts." (Scene 2)

This sends him into a spiral of guilt, and self-doubt.

He starts to remember the classics lessons he taught Finlayson, and he recalls letters sent to him from the front lines from pupils.

It is clear that Gibson was a respected figure: the boys not only took his initial advice to enlist, but felt a strong enough connection to write to him during their service. Gibson feels a responsibility for the boys and their actions.

His initial belief is that the war will allow the young men to see some of the world, possibly even some of the places he'd taught them about in classical literature. It is a genuinely-held belief. Gibson thinks that this is a just war, and that victory will help make the world a better place:

It is a way for the poor to prise power away from princes and politicians. If young men like you go out and fight in this war, there is no way they can refuse to make the changes that are necessary to transform our society." (Scene 3)

I believe a better and more just world will come from this conflict." (Scene 4)

He wants his pupils to experience full lives. Giving service to their country seems an opportunity for them to experience more than they would at home:

Going there will give you an opportunity I never had. It will widen your vision, add to your knowledge of the halls of learning that your teachers have opened up for you." (Scene 3)

In hindsight, Gibson comes across as naive in his belief that war will bring enriching experiences to these young men, that they will return home safely and society will benefit.

As the play progresses, we see more of Gibson than the professional image he projects. More of his weaknesses are exposed, but we also learn more about his motivation, and a level of self-awareness that makes him more sympathetic.

In Scene 3 we learn that Gibson is "the son of a famer's labourer" and that he has worked hard to achieve his current position.

He compares his own background to the lives of his pupils, and he wants them to go out and achieve something:

Men who spend their lives at home rarely achieve very much" (Scene 3)

There is a suggestion that Gibson is referring to himself here. He sees himself as someone who has spent too much time in one place, and failed to achieve in life:

I've stayed here for too long There is nothing in this town but the reek of salt herring and education." (Scene 4)

His dismissive, negative attitude to Stornoway contrasts with his overly positive image of Greece and Turkey, the lands he only knows through classical literature. For the first time there is a hint that Gibson is questioning the value of learning and education, by linking it to the smell of herring.

Education is central to Gibson's character, so as he begins to question its value, he is also judging himself.

When Mary points out that he is always quoting other men's words, we see some of Gibson's self-awareness:

It's easier than thinking for myself." (Scene 6)

Gibson compares himself unfavourably to the world of classical literature:

If I could only repeat what Ovid said, "the dead were fallen all about me, nor were they interred by usual rites; too many funerals crowded temple gates…" (Scene 8)

He still looks to the words of another man, but by now is aware that he does not have the true life experience to repeat them with any meaning. And by reading the letters from his ex-pupils, and his (imagined) meetings with their ghosts, he seems finally to have learned about the reality of war and its horrors.

By the end of the play, Gibson seems to find some sense of peace and perspective. While he feels unworthy to lead the memorial service, he takes on the task from a sense of duty to his pupils. And when he finally delivers his speech, in his own words, he realises that the best he can do, all the community can do, to thank those who died in the war is to remember them:

we must bring something of their spirit into the daily round of life." (Scene 12)

Through the play, Gibson has developed into a rounded character. But for all his flaws, we see that he is capable of thought, care and compassion.

Speaking to BBC Alba on the first night of the play's Glasgow run, Donald S Murray said:

“He (Gibson) wasn’t a bad man. If he were bad, it wouldn’t have been a tragedy. He was a good man, and he was thinking about the situation and the consequences. If he were a villain, I wouldn’t have a story, but he wasn’t one; he was a very decent man.” (English translation, author's website)

Each of the other characters in the play interact with Gibson and move his perspective on the war, and on himself. It is that journey of understanding that is at the very centre of the play and the character.

Gibson's wife, Mary, is the first character to act as his conscience - she is critical of him where she believes he is emphasising his own importance, but she also sees the commitment he has given to the education of the young people.

In scene two, she is slightly mocking of his panic that he cannot remember Finlayson, and his elation when he does:

GIBSON: "I've found him! I've found him! I can remember him now!"

MARY (sarcastically): "Oh, good. Very good. That's made us all feel so much better." (Scene 2)

It is Mary who points out to him that he is always quoting from other people, whether it's Shakespeare or Carlyle:

I should have known - another man's words." (Scene 6).

In quoting figures from the classical world and literature, Gibson is stuck in a detached state, with no genuine understanding of war and the world. It is through the words of the young men, in their letters, that Gibson gains true perspective,. In the end it is Gibson's task to not just quote words he has read, but to use what he learns from them to find his own words for his speech at the memorial unveiling.

Finlayson also refers to this when he appears to Gibson later in the play, using Mary's words. It is clearly an astute observation that has stuck with Gibson, and perhaps indicative that these conversations are not real, but his memories of these words and voices have become intertwined and less clear over time.

Mary sees the good in her husband too. She is clearly aware of how hard he works. Although she tries to get him to bed, and to ensure he sleeps, she seems resigned to his working late. And while he doubts himself, she reminds him of all that he has achieved:

Regardless if you were the son of a poor gardener, you have progressed a poor, insignificant school to the level is is at today…one of the best schools in the country." (Scene 6)

Compared to Gibson, Mary is a realist. She acknowledges that life and people are not perfect, but carries on with life.

MacRae is one of the other teachers at the Nicolson Institute. He is presented as more modern and forward-looking than Gibson. He is younger, he teaches Mathematics rather than Classics, and ultimately succeeds Gibson as headmaster of the school. However, he is also more firmly rooted in the local community, as he is from Stornoway, unlike Gibson, and has taught in the school for many years.

While Gibson sees the importance of travel and new experiences, MacRae sees the value in remaining where he is:

But I'm perfectly content here. Don't see why I should fly." (Scene 4)

Despite this, MacRae is not unrealistic about his community. When he reports the Town Hall meeting to Gibson, he clearly disagrees with the patriotism and thirst for war that he has seen, referring to the speeches as "the usual froth and fervour." (Scene 4).

When Gibson encourages the young men to enlist, and believes this represents an opportunity for them to go and see the world, MacRae is altogether more cautious:

It's a dangerous thing, this learning, when it takes people away from their roots." (Scene 4)

Both Mary and Gibson see MacRae's apparent ambition to become headmaster. When MacRae, now headmaster, visits Gibson in Scene 10 to ask him again to unveil the memorial, Mary asks him:

"But isn't that what you wanted, Mr MacRae? Waiting all these years until he retired. Tell me how is the crown of thorns?" (Scene 10)

MacRae acts as a foil to Gibson throughout the play, and like several of the other characters pricks his conscience as they discuss the prospect of war:

I only hope you're right. With all my heart." (Scene 4)

Finlayson is one of the boys who Gibson taught at the Nicolson Institute, who goes to fight in the war. His mother appears in the opening scene, looking for his name on the memorial, and Gibson can't immediately remember him.

When Finlayson does appear, in Scene 3 after Gibson has "found him" in his memory, it is in a flashback of Gibson's classroom before the young men enlist. In the flashback, it is Finlayson who is struggling to remember, but in this case he can't recall the source of a quote from classical literature:

I can't remember, sir." (Scene 3)

Finlayson seems unsure of himself. He is struggling in class compared to the other pupils, and Gibson makes fun of him:

You must have left your brains behind you. Clipped from your head like your father's wool." (Scene 3)

Finlayson is another character who provokes Gibson's conscience in the play. In Scene 7, he appears to Gibson as an almost taunting apparition, a reminder of his error in encouraging the young men to go to war. He goads Gibson's memory:

"It was calm when we left Lemnos. You remember that name, Mr Gibson? Lemnos…" (Scene 7)

He seems to have little time for Gibson's classical learning. When GIbson quotes Homer and refers to the "wine-dark sea", Finlayson cuts him off:

That's enough, Gibson. It was no wine-dark sea." (Scene 7)

Having seen the reality of war, Finlayson dismisses the imagery of classical literature. He seems to dismiss Gibson in a way that shows their roles are reversed. Calling him Gibson rather than Mr Gibson suggests a stern teacher speaking to a pupil.

It is not just Gibson that Finlayson seems angry with. He comments on how the limits of academic learning have led to poor decision making and death in the war.

FINLAYSON: "Some stupid bloody officer, receiving all his education through books and Classical Greek."

PATERSON: "Decided to use an old collier as a Trojan Horse."

FINLAYSON: "Two thousand troops running ashore in it."

CAMPBELL: "The Turks knocked them down with the guns, row after row, person after person." (Scene 7)

Through going to war, Finlayson has gained real life experience and developed into a confident man, in charge of his situation. In a way, this shows Gibson was partly correct to think that joining up would benefit his pupils. But the experiences they have gone through have been horrific in ways that Gibson can't understand.

The difference in true experience and Gibson's academic learning is made clear when Finlayson talks in horrific detail about maggots hatching out of corpses:

GIBSON: "I've read about them."

FINLAYSON: "Aye. So you have. But you didn't live them, did you? You're a gardener's son from Greenock wrapped up in his academic gown." (Scene 7)

He asks Gibson in the final line of Scene 7 ("What are you going to say?") and in the final line of Scene 9 ("Anything to say?") - when we know that Gibson has a speech that he is struggling to write and deliver. At the end of Scene 11, this becomes a direct challenge:

"Mr Gibson, some of these young men worshipped you. You have to be the one to speak."

Finlayson is aware of Gibson's faults, and has helped Gibson himself see them. In leading Gibson to reflect on his own flawed humanity, Finlayson teaches him in ways that none of his books ever could.

The forgotten young man is an important symbol at the heart of the play, connecting to the themes of war and remembrance, and urging Gibson to his concluding speech.

Roddy Morrison only 'appears' in one scene, as Gibson reads his letter from the front line. Gibson is reading this as he attempts to write his speech, so it acts as a flashback.

Morrison's letter details the reality of the war as he is attacked. Gibson reads from the letter while the audience sees Morrison and the other soldiers acting out what is happening. Morrison isn't angry with Gibson, or regretful of his decision to sign up, however, and he ends his letter by reflecting "The doctor thinks I'll be able to walk again in time so I have nothing to complain about".

Campbell and Paterson appear in the classroom flashback in Scene 3, and as apparitions in Scene 7 with Finlayson. These two scenes become intermixed, and Campbell and Paterson are also almost interchangeable as characters.

The tales from classical literature and the young men's experiences on the front line are juxtaposed. The stories they read in Gibson's classroom gave them an admiration of brave and heroic warriors, but the reality of their time at the front is not what they were sold.

PATERSON: "But to go to Serbia, Turkey… What do these places have to do with us?"

GIBSON: "You can say that after reading the Iliad? Really?" (Scene 3)

When the young men return as ghostly figures, they make these comparisons even more explicit:

These places beloved and immortalised in the tales and myths of the Greeks" (Scene 7)

It is in this scene that the huge difference between war as portrayed in classical literature, and as it is experienced in real life, is most clearly expressed to Gibson.

Mairead appears very briefly, with one line in the classroom scene (Scene 3). Her presence, and correct answer to Gibson's question, shows that girls were being educated alongside the boys at the time. The focus of the scene however is very much on the young men, and Mairead is only heard once. It is the women and girls, including this "lass from the croft" who will be left behind after the war.

Mrs Finlayson is the first character to prick Gibson's conscience when she notices her son Duncan's name missing from the memorial, and is distraught when Gibson cannot remember him.

She returns as a memory, with the same challenge to Gibson, as he is delivering his speech in the final scene:

You don't remember him, do you? You don't remember him, at all! (Scene 12)

Beaton appears in the opening scene, as the worker responsible for the installation of the memorial. He speaks in a very matter-of-fact way about his work and about the war. When Mrs Finlayson says "It's awfully sad", Beaton responds:

"Aye. I suppose it is. To those that knew them. A lot less to those that didn't. But I didn't mean that. I meant what do you think of the workmanship? Does it look fine to you?" (Scene 1)

He is the person tasked with making so many war memorials that he admits they have become detached from the concept of remembering the dead:

"They mingle so much in this old head of mine that I don't even see them anymore." (Scene 1)

However, later in the scene, he admits:

"That's why I joke about it. Keeps the old demons at bay. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to go to sleep by remembering that they weren't names, but men. Boys." (Scene 1)

Jessie Finlayson appears in scene 8, just after Gibson has been visited by the apparitions of the young men. She is not, however, a ghost, instead she shows the real effects of the war on the living.

She is Finlayson's sister-in-law, and his brother Donald has returned from the front line with 'shell-shock'. She reveals her face is badly bruised and goes on to explain that Donald lashes out with his fists in the middle of the night, believing himself to still be at the front line.

"…he finds himself in the middle of the night, pounding his fists in my direction, screaming and yelling as he does so. (Pause) But it's not his fault he acts like that. Not his fault at all." (Scene 8)

Unlike Morrison's letter, however, Jessie knows exactly who she blames for the predicament she and Donald are in:

"It's the fault of those people who encouraged him. As if it was an adventure. As if it was a way of seeing the world. They're the ones to blame." (Scene 8)

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