The Good Soldier: Part 4, Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

Finally, John arrives at what he says is the saddest part of “the saddest story.” As he sees it, Nancy, Edward, and Leonora are all in unsalvageable positions. It seems obvious to John, writing in retrospect, that Edward will die if Nancy doesn’t return to him. Indeed, as it turns out, Edward does kill himself, although John withholds the details for the time being. In the aftermath of Edward’s death, Nancy goes insane. Nancy’s mind cannot bear the idea that she is directly responsible for his death. By the time her father gets to her, Nancy can no longer speak coherently. The only thing she utters is her apparent belief in an “Omnipotent Deity.”

Because Leonora can no longer stand to face Nancy herself, she sends John in her place. John visits Nancy and sees that she is still as beautiful as ever, even though her mental state has sharply deteriorated. As he looks at Nancy, John realizes that he is once again acting as a nurse for a woman he loves. He cannot help but notice the bitter irony of the situation. In the end, John realizes, no one in his life ended up happy. He is rich, but alone, Florence and Edward killed themselves, and Leonora settled for Rodney Bayham, a man she considered having an affair with while still married to Edward.

Still, John places little to no blame on Edward for what has transpired. He describes how Nancy and Leonora tortured Edward and gave him no control over the outcome of his life. Leonora knew Nancy loved Edward and so she did everything she could to make her dislike him. However, eventually, her only option was to make Nancy Edward’s mistress and by that point it was already too late; Nancy could never accept such a position. John thinks this situation must have tortured Edward and drained him of any life force he had remaining. In the final months of his life, Edward knew that Nancy, the one person he truly loved, was poisoned against him forever because of Leonora.