The book introduces the Captain as having “obtained within himself a delicate balance between the male and female elements, with the susceptibilities of both the sexes and the active powers of neither” (314). As gay (and lesbian) desire has often been conceptualized in terms of gender nonconformity, this lays the groundwork for the revelation that he is often attracted to his wife’s lovers—particularly the Major, for whom he feels “the nearest thing to love that he had ever known” (327). This affection stands in sharp contrast to the Captain’s hatred for his wife.

The reader knows only a few details about the Captain’s understanding of himself. He diligently avoids self-reflection, and he seems to get through each day by devoting himself both to an extreme work regimen and to nursing petty complaints and irritations. Although he gets some perverse satisfaction from theft and slander, the Captain has few moments of either genuine joy or deep sorrow. While the Captain’s wild horse ride in Part 3 finally allows him to feel and to notice the world around him, this doesn’t change the Captain enough for him to fully accept his desires. Instead, his obsession with the Private deepens—but because he cannot fully engage with his own emotions, the Captain inadvertently channels those emotions into murder.