He wanted to be a drummer; he did not want to kill people. In that he got his whish. He did not kill people, he killed the enemy. Such a simple distinction allowed for such grave consequences. One alteration, one small change of a sentence and an entire spree of Napoleonic wars became instantly justified. It did not matter that Henri and France had suffered, it only mattered that Henri and France were passionate. And so Henri sees an entire nation rise up to grasp something holy, something only fanaticism can touch: “I had been chosen”(19). Henri’s stories come together to explain the reasons why France had such passion for war and the reasons why that passion exisits. This central theme boils down to two steps, that passion is achieved through suffering and only passion will lead to something holy.

It was his passion for Napoleon that first drove Henri from his home to fight for the empire. After all, it was the emperor. Napoleon became to many Frenchmen what God is to a Christian. Winterson hints this in the opening chapter where Henri says: “The priest carried a drawing of Bonaparte next to his drawing of the Blessed Virgin.” Unlike God, Napoleon vocally met passion with passion. But we must still ask ourselves exactly why is passion so important to Henri and France? Why would they endure pains of war and death to find it? The answer is simple: “The hardship is a man-made device because man cannot exist without passion” (74). Henri is fighting to fill a gap. For years he beseeches “Do it from the heart or not at all”(7). Henri could not join his mother’s passion for God for he could not find God’s passion for him. So he found his passion from Napoleon instead, even though he had to suffer for it.

The Latin root of the word ‘passion’, passus, means ‘to suffer’. Oftentimes Winterson uses passion almost synonymously with suffering and death. It is not until Henri experiences suffering and death that his passion for Napoleon truly manifests itself. It was the hardship of war in the zero winter that drove Henri and all of the French to increased levels of passion for Napoleon. This can first be realized when Henri says: “There was nothing we wouldn’t believe to get us through: God was on our side, the Russians were Devils. Our wives depended upon this war. There was no alternative…”(83). Passion consumed them for there was nothing else, no other emotions could overpower their sufferings. Only this state of passion kept the French going. Darwin says it is human instinct to survive. It follows logically then that it is human instinct to become passionate, for nothing else has the power to overcome the obstacles of suffering. If the stories in the emperor are about Henri’s need for passion, then the stories in the zero winter are about the need for passion in times of suffrage.

The link between Henri’s suffering and passion is strong enough that one cannot exist without the other. Henri left the army and his passion for Napoleon simultaneously. One might ask why Henri gave up his passion. But once again, Winterson’s answer is amazingly simple. Henri gave up his passion and the army for something holy: love. Only after years of fighting and hardship did Henri truly begin to appreciate love and compassion. In contrast, love must be holy. Not only does Villanelle represent something holy in the form of love, but Winterson’s writing is full of Biblical comparisons to her: walking on water, leading through compassion, and living with no heart. Even Villanelle herself says “I might turn passion into something holy” (63). Henri’s need for passion may have lead him to Napoleon, but his passion certainly lead him to Villanelle.

Henri’s passion progresses with his mentality throughout the novel. The need for passion, passion itself, and passion leading to something holy are all important stages in this progression. Ends in an unsatisfying “I’m telling you stories. Trust me.”