An Episode of War by Stephen Crane
"An Episode of War" by Stephen Crane is a poignant short story that explores the harrowing experience of a lieutenant during a battlefield encounter. The narrative opens with the lieutenant focused on distributing coffee rations when he is unexpectedly shot, setting off a chain of events that reveals both the physical and psychological toll of war. As he grapples with his injury, the story captures his feelings of vulnerability and confusion amidst the chaos of the battlefield, where the grandeur of military operations starkly contrasts with the personal tragedy of his wounded arm.
Throughout his journey, the lieutenant encounters various scenes of war, from the frantic energy of commanders to the mundane act of making coffee, which was his earlier preoccupation. His interactions highlight the contrasting perceptions of war, seen as both an adventure by some and a source of deep suffering for others. The lieutenant’s eventual arrival at a makeshift hospital reveals the harsh realities of medical treatment during wartime, where his fear of amputation underscores his helplessness and anxiety.
Ultimately, the story reflects on the profound impact of war not only on the individual soldier but also on those who care for him, emphasizing the shared suffering and long-lasting effects of such experiences. Crane’s narrative serves as a meditation on the nature of loss and the complexities of identity in the face of trauma, making it a significant commentary on the human condition amid the brutalities of conflict.
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An Episode of War by Stephen Crane
First published: 1899
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: 1864
Locale: A Civil War battlefield
Principal Characters:
The lieutenant , who has been wounded in battleThe doctor , who treats him
The Story
An army lieutenant concentrates on rationing out his company's supply of coffee, meticulously dividing the brown squares before him, when a shot rings out. The enlisted men, startled by the noise, suddenly see blood saturating their lieutenant's sleeve. In pain, the wounded officer sways, winces in disbelief, mutely surveys the forest, and tries instinctively and clumsily to sheathe the sword that he has been using to count out the coffee packets. His mind swirls with mysterious revelations about existence and the meaning of life. As his dumbstruck, sympathetic troops try haltingly and timidly to assist him, he realizes his helplessness. He desperately holds his right wrist with his left hand. Silently and mournfully, he leaves the field to seek medical attention. His dark journey begins.
The lieutenant's wandering quest takes him through scenes of wartime horror: An aide gallops to a general, salutes, and presents his commander a vital message; batteries sweep in majestic, frightening curves bent on destruction; and horsemen curse and shout amid a chaos of levers, motors, and wheels. This chorus of war is ferocious and emotional with dramatic passion. A beautiful unity seems to hover over these fields of mindless destruction and sudden death. The lieutenant comes on a group of stragglers who are insensately trudging his path, all excitedly caught up in the drama; he encounters a roadside brigade making coffee—the pedestrian task in which he had been involved before his wounding—and buzzing with talk like girls at boarding school, as if war were simply an adventure. A solicitous officer, observing the lieutenant's bloody arm, scolds him to fix it and kindly, though amateurishly, binds the wound with his own handkerchief. The lieutenant is embarrassed both by his shattered arm and by the gesture of concern. He feels strangely apologetic. He has not yet mastered the proper etiquette for behaving as a wounded soldier, but believes there is some proper ritual to be followed when one is no longer a complete human being.
At last the lieutenant arrives at the low, white tents of a makeshift hospital, a former school now surrounded by moaning and dying soldiers. A busy surgeon passes by and greets the lieutenant in a friendly way, but his considerate demeanor disappears, even approaches contempt, when he spies the wounded arm. He brusquely orders the lieutenant to come along. Suddenly fearful and overwhelmed by panic, the lieutenant cries out that he will not allow his arm to be amputated; he tries to draw away. The surgeon seductively cajoles him, insisting that he will not amputate it. The lieutenant is far from reassured, but is not strong enough to resist. He proceeds reluctantly, suspicious and terrified, toward the doors of the field hospital that assume the appearance of the portals of death. The narrator then simply states that this was "the story of how the lieutenant lost his arm."
After some time has passed, the lieutenant's sisters, mother, and wife sob at the sight of his empty, flat sleeve. He stands ashamed before them, minimizing his disability, still not certain of the proper etiquette for behavior of the wounded. It was nothing, however, merely an ordinary experience shared by many soldiers who are doomed thereby to a lifetime of remembrance and suffering, just "an episode of war."
Bibliography
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