"My mother brought us up to be serious and to benefit humanity in some practical way, but allowed us no hint of its dirtiness, intrigue and lustfulness, believing that innocence would be the surest protection against them." 

Graves’s practical, Protestant upbringing taught him to value diligence and “proper” conduct of behavior. Throughout his schoolyears, Graves refrains   from engaging in inappropriate behavior, or even using profane language, even in the face of the debauchery of Charterhouse. Graves’s military    service, though, exposes him to the things from which his mother tried to protect him, and, in turn, alters his Protestant-based worldview.

"On our visits to Germany, I had felt a sense of home in a natural, human way, but above Harlech I found a personal peace independent of history or geography." 

Graves has a childhood fondness and reverence for his German family and visiting them in Germany. British and German hostilities leading up to and during WWI cause him to hide his German heritage. His affection for Harlech, though, remains steadfast, and is one that lies outside nations and conflict.

"Businessmen's sons, at this time, used to discuss hotly, the threat, and even necessity of a trade war with the Reich. German meant 'dirty German.'" 

At Charterhouse, Graves’s peers begin openly discussing the rising tensions between Germany and England. Most students feel Germany presents an economic threat to England's primacy and speak of Germans with disdain, if not outright hatred. This leads to Graves being bullied by some of the other students.