1. Write a sentence that summarizes the story’s overall message, and provide three direct quotes from the story that best illustrate this message.
The overall message in “Editha” written by Howell is that it is unwise to glorify war. War is the meaning of life or death because the soldiers are fighting for freedom. In the beginning of the novel, Editha pressures George to go into war by threating that she would not marry him. George asked for Editha’s love and she gave it to him, and now that war had begun she wanted him to fight for her. “If he could do something worthy to have won her--be a hero, her hero--it would be even better than if he had done it before asking her; it would be grander.” She is using war as a way to show how much George really loves her. Later in story, Editha rewards George with smiles and kisses by announcing, “They selected me for captain, and I'm going to the war, the big war, the glorious war, the holy war ordained by the pocket.” Finally, the truth prevails when Editha’s has to meet George’s mom to tell her that George had died for his country. Mrs. Gearson comments back to Editha by saying, “No, girls don’t; women don’t, when they give their men up for their country. They think they’ll come marching back somehow, just as gay as they went”. In the end, Editha realizes that war is not glorious because it took the life of the one she loved. The author is warning others that glorious war is idealistic because in reality, people can die as a possible outcome.
2. What tactics does Editha use to make George believe as she does about the war?
Editha used several tactics to make George believe the same way she does about the war. First, she plays with George’s feelings and emotions. By threating their marriage, she is able to let George understand how important fighting for their country is to her. She was trying to convince him that becoming a solider would not only make him look like a better person, but he would look a hero; and that’s what she wanted as a husband, a hero. She then uses literature, such as current war propaganda to show how necessary and glorious war is. These news reports supported her opinion for the need of war and gave her a reason to pressure him into leaving. Finally, she manipulates him by saying that she understands if he does not want to go and that he should follow his beliefs. This is going to push George into following his wife’s orders because he truly loves her.
3. Is there ever a time in which Editha truly understands what she has done? Does she ever experience an epiphany?
There was a moment when Editha understands what she had done. After forcing her husband to go into war, she realizes that she had lost her pride and joy. The love of her life was now fighting for justice and freedom rather than being at home with her. She was proud of him, but she was also nervous that she had lost him. However, at this time she still believed that what she had done was right, and he should be a captain in the war. It was not until she heard a message stating that her husband died when she truly recognized the mistake she made. Editha never believed that George was going to be killed; she just thought he was going to be a hero. When Editha visits Mrs. Gearson, Mrs. Gearson began to yell at her for pressuring her son into going to war and letting him die. George’s mother explained that women romanticize the idea of war when in reality it is a place of death. Editha starts to cry for the first time since George’s death, feeling truly sorry for what she had done. However, by the end of the story, she was back to her idealistic ways and believed that war was glorious again.
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