In addition to losing the most men of any nation that fought in the war, World War I also marked the end of British dominance in the international sphere. It follows, then, that the malaise Connie notes in Clifford would be shared more broadly across the country. Tellingly, Connie summarizes this feeling of listlessness as a reliance on “words” instead of true, indescribable “reality”; in Connie’s nihilistic mindset, language has flattened and then replaced actual human experience.