Facing The Flag - Politics

Politics

The book was written and published when France was in the throes of the Dreyfus Affair, Frenchmen were deeply divided over whether or not the Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus was guilty of treason and espionage on behalf of the hated Germany (and over more fundamental issues bound up with the Dreyfus case). Verne is known to have initially supported the right-wing anti-Dreyfusards.

The question whether or not Verne was an anti-semite is hotly debated; while Walter A. McDougall finds "no overt evidence of anti-Semitism on Verne's part," Brian Taves and Jean-Michel Margot note that his Off on a Comet contains "unflattering Shylock-style stereotypes." Be that as it may, Verne certainly was a nationalist caught up in the mindset of revanchism, to whom the idea of a French army officer, Jewish or not, spying for Germany would be the greatest of anathemas; and initially Verne, like most French people, believed Dreyfus to be guilty. However, in 1899 Verne came to support a judicial review of the Dreyfus case.

While Roch cannot be said to represent Dreyfus in any concrete way, the theme of an apparent traitor, who in the end proves to be a self-sacrificing patriot, may be connected to the change of heart which Verne (and many readers) underwent about Dreyfus.