2 ideas
A person whose central loss can't be spoken about may pour it into disciplined repetition, such as endlessly reproducing other people's paintings. The craft gives the feeling a form while keeping it out of view. The mastery of technique becomes a way of not saying the thing itself.
At the Yser front, Dutch-speaking Flemish rank-and-file soldiers were commanded largely by French-speaking officers. The linguistic and social gap between the classes made the chain of command a source of humiliation and danger for the men at the bottom. War did not level social hierarchy; it intensified the existing one and made it lethal.