The Ice House by Caroline Gordon
"The Ice House" by Caroline Gordon is a short story set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, focusing on the experiences of Doug, a young Southern worker. He is hired alongside his friend Raeburn by a Yankee contractor to clear the remains of Union soldiers from an ice house where they were temporarily placed during the war due to frozen ground conditions. The narrative explores themes of grief, memory, and the stark realities of war, as Doug and Raeburn confront the task of handling bones that are often incomplete and dismembered.
As the boys work, their differing reactions to the task highlight the emotional weight of their labor. Doug's pragmatic attitude contrasts with Raeburn's sensitivity, illustrating the varied ways individuals cope with loss and death. The story culminates in a moment of realization when Doug discovers the contractor's unethical manipulation of the remains for profit, raising questions about morality in the aftermath of conflict. Gordon's work invites readers to reflect on the human cost of war and the complexities of memory and remembrance in a divided society.
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The Ice House by Caroline Gordon
First published: 1931
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of work: 1866
Locale: The South
Principal Characters:
Doug , a fifteen-year-old southern youthRaeburn , his friend, also fifteenA Yankee contractor , unnamed, who hires the boys
The Story
Doug, an enterprising southern lad, has found a few days' employment with a Yankee contractor. He has been hired to remove from a pit in an ice house the skeletons of Union soldiers who were killed in a battle about four years earlier, in 1862. At that time, the frozen December ground precluded digging graves, and the bodies were placed in the ice house to await a future burial.
After enlisting the aid of his close friend Raeburn, Doug waits for him early on an April morning. When Raeburn is late, he becomes irritated, fearing that the contractor might not pay the agreed-on sum. Arriving at about six, Raeburn explains his tardiness, saying, "I ain't going to work for nobody on an empty stomach," but Doug argues that they should earn their pay and provide a full day's labor.
The two youths meet the Yankee contractor at the ice house and begin the task of separating the tangle of bones. Working inside, Doug passes armfuls of bones to Raeburn, who places them in a wheelbarrow. The contractor then deposits the bones in the waiting pine boxes. Because the skeletons are not intact and are often without skulls, however, the boys question whether the contractor knows when he has a complete body in any one of the coffins.
At noon the three rest and have their dinner. Raeburn, more sensitive to handling the skeletons than the other two, drinks some coffee but is unable to eat the biscuit and cold meat that he has brought. Doug and the contractor have no such trouble, for to Doug, "handlin' a dead Yankee ain't no more to me than handlin' a dead hawg." Even so, Raeburn offers to exchange places with him because Doug's job of untangling the bones is the more difficult of the two. On their return to the ice house, however, Doug resumes the same position because, as he points out, "I'm used to it now. You have to kind of get the hang of it. It'd just be wasting time now if we changed places." Because the bodies are lower in the pit, he requests a ladder. In search of one, the contractor inquires at the nearest house, but Mrs. Porter, having lost three sons in the war, is unwilling to help a Yankee, and she directs the contractor to a distant house that he discovers to be abandoned. Unable to obtain a ladder, he returns, but because it is dusk, the boys are finishing up for the day.
As the contractor pays the lads for the day's work, he mentions that he no longer needs them. Doug is surprised; originally he was hired for three or perhaps four days. Furthermore, skeletons of Union soldiers still remain in the ice house. As the boys leave, Doug turns into the woods, and Raeburn soon follows, discovering Doug peering through the undergrowth at the contractor in the distance. The contractor is rearranging the bones, taking some out of the full coffins and placing them into the empty ones, thus making it appear that all the bodies have been removed from the ice house. Doug quickly figures it out: "He's dividing up them skeletons so he can git paid double." The thought amuses him, and he laughs, "There ain't a whole man in ary one of them boxes."