We have here a remarkable condemnation of martyrdom, in which the martyr, by exposing himself to death, gains a "sustaining" and "comforting" license to accept the death of others without feeling. It is a psychological insight into why Monygham embraced idealism; previously his nature made him painfully sympathetic to the miseries of the human condition.

An interesting parallel exists between Charles Gould and Dr Monygham in this regard. Both start out with a sympathetic nature (albeit Charles felt sympathy for ruined mines); both fall in love with Emily; both thereupon lose their sympathies in the process of becoming fanatic idealists; both deliberately take up self-corrupting tasks with steeled hearts.