Very little in this book, though it increases with the series.

It is said that Muslims drink no wine, and characters laugh at one man who seems to have gotten hold of alcohol despite that it turns out, however, that the man was ill. The crew of a captured ship are found drunk, and Hornblower throws the spirits overboard to keep his own men from drinking as well. Rum, grog, and wines are all consumed frequently. Hornblower finds he has a weak head for wine, and he tends to limit himself so as not to do anything foolish. Although not violent, instances of the plague are gruesome. Seamen kill rats for sport until their game is ended by an officer. Scores of men are shot or drowned in action, and Hornblower has a number of brushes with death.

When Hornblower joins with a French anti-Revolutionary invasion of France, he witnesses the guillotine in action and is sickened by it. When a British seaman's epileptic fit threatens to give away a surprise attack, Hornblower remedies the situation by knocking the man out with a blow to the head it is implied that the man was probably killed. Before a duel, he reflects on death and finds it preferable to life. Hornblower passes through numerous fights and battles. Hornblower thinks about Fate and his destiny.

Otherwise, God is only mentioned either when His name is being misused or when He is being 'thanked' (without much thought). One seaman is known to be 'simple,' and he talks about seeing God in the maintop and the Devil in the cable tiers. Patriotism and bravery are commended, but those are really the only virtues shown by the protagonist. Several characters risk their lives to save shipwrecked seamen. At one point British seamen attempt to throw defenseless enemies overboard, and when Hornblower notices he does call them off. In the midst of battles and their aftermath, mercy is not always given top priority. His upward path takes him from the worn-out ship Justinian to Sir Edward Pellew's frigate Indefatigable, and from there to a dozen other places: to France, plague ships, and a Spanish prison. ForesterĮnjoyable tale set in the Napoleonic Wars, but with significant language and violence.Īt the age of seventeen Horatio Hornblower may be a late-comer to the British Navy, but when he is commissioned as a midshipman, he is quickly caught up in a series of adventures in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars.

Midshipman hornblower