What did G. K. Chesterton mean by this sentence from the first chapter of 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'?

Question

> Walking in wind and sun in the very landscape of liberty, he was still young enough to remember his politics and not merely try to forget them.I want to make sure that "the very landscape of liberty" refers to the openness of the moors and commons he is walking in; or have I missed something?For the second half of the sentence, I think it's all about the fact that young people make a big deal of their ideas and beliefs, thinking that they are what they believe in. Growing more experienced over the years, they start to notice the rupture between their ideologies and their reality, so they tend to "try to forget them" and focus more on who they really are.Please, correct me if I get anything wrong, and thanks in advance.For more context, here's a link to the story:http://www.classicreader.com/book/485/1

Answer 1

I think your evaluation is a good one. The protagonist, Harold March, is a good looking young man with curly blond hair and pale blue eyes.the picture of innocence. He is however on a political mission the goal of which he does not really understand.

We meet him as he casually walks in a lovely field with the wind gently blowing and the sun happily shining; a metaphor for the boy's naivety with regard to a corrupt world led by politicians driven by their own interests.

He knows something of beauty, trusting too much and little about a world underlined by corruption and self interest.