Character Relationship Map: A Foreign Field

Characters

• Amos (played by Alec Guinness) — protagonist

  Amos is a British veteran traveling with Cyril to Normandy. Childlike after a severe wartime head wound, he carries an empty jam jar like a treasured toy. He once saved Cyril's life, and Cyril has car...

• Cyril (played by Leo McKern) — supporting

  Cyril is a British veteran who returns to France seeking the woman with whom he had a wartime rendezvous. He travels with Amos, whose life he has cared for since Amos saved him and suffered a severe h...

• Lisa (played by Lauren Bacall) — supporting

  Lisa is a recently widowed woman who comes to Normandy to find her brother's grave. She encounters Cyril, Amos, and Waldo's group, then leads them to the grave and reveals that her brother was a Germa...

• Angelique (played by Jeanne Moreau) — supporting

  Angelique is the woman whom both Cyril and Waldo have returned to France to find, because each had a rendezvous with her in 1944 without knowing about the other. After Lisa reveals that her brother wa...

• Waldo (played by John Randolph) — supporting

  Waldo is an American veteran who returns to France in search of the same woman sought by Cyril, unaware that they shared a wartime rendezvous with her. He arrives with his daughter Beverley and her hu...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Cyril → Angelique (Romantic Former Rendezvous Partner) — Cyril's wartime romantic memory motivates his return to France.

  Cyril returns to France searching for the woman with whom he had a rendezvous in 1944.

• Waldo → Angelique (Romantic Former Rendezvous Partner) — Waldo's search creates a romantic rivalry with Cyril.

  Waldo also returns to France searching for the same woman with whom he had a rendezvous in 1944, unknown to Cyril.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Waldo → Lisa (Social Traveling Acquaintance) — Their connection develops through the intersecting searches in France.

  Lisa meets the group that includes Waldo while searching for her brother's grave.

• Cyril → Lisa (Social Traveling Acquaintance) — Cyril and Lisa are connected through the veterans' pilgrimage.

  Lisa meets the group during her search for her brother's grave and becomes part of their shared journey.

• Lisa → Amos (Alliance Guide) — Lisa guides Amos and the others to a grave connected with wartime loss.

  Lisa takes the traveling group to her brother's grave, where Amos later salutes and marches off.

• Lisa → Angelique (Alliance Supporter) — Their interaction turns shock into compassion and solidarity.

  Lisa takes the group to her brother's grave, and Angelique responds to Lisa's revelation by hugging her.

• Amos → Waldo (Alliance Travel Companion) — Amos and Waldo become connected through the shared journey and its memories.

  Amos travels with Cyril, while Waldo's group encounters them and eventually finds common ground with them through shared wartime sorrow.

• Cyril → Waldo (Conflict Rival) — Their overlapping search produces early tension and rivalry.

  The two groups encounter one another while Cyril and Waldo are unknowingly searching for the same woman, and they initially experience conflict.

• Amos → Cyril (Alliance Life Saver) — Amos's wartime action creates the central bond between the two veterans.

  The plot reveals that Amos saved Cyril's life during the Battle of Normandy in 1944.

Story Analysis

Former wartime companions and strangers confront memory, divided loyalties, and the human cost of remembrance during a return to Normandy.

Plot Progression

1. Return to a Shared Past — Cyril and Amos return to France while Waldo pursues the same woman from 1944. Their separate journeys are set against unresolved wartime memories.
2. Conflict on the Road — The two traveling groups meet and initially come into conflict because Cyril and Waldo are searching for the same woman. Shared sorrow gradually creates common ground.
3. The Cost of Rescue — Cyril reveals that Amos saved his life in Normandy but suffered a devastating head wound. The revelation clarifies Cyril's lifelong responsibility and Amos's limited future.
4. Graves Across Old Lines — The travelers continue their pilgrimage to honor fallen friends and to find Lisa's brother's grave. Lisa's discovery that her brother was a German soldier unsettles everyone.
5. Flowers at Omaha Beach — Angelique comforts Lisa, and Amos salutes before marching away. At Omaha Beach, the group leaves wild flowers in Amos's jar on Briggs's gravestone.