22 pages • 44 minutes read
Stephen CraneA Mystery Of Heroism
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Eyes
Much of this story is spent on the view of the battlefield. The soldiers’ eyes are continually taking in the scenes surrounding them. The eyes observe the battery, which is being heavily shelled, as well as the meadows, house, and the woods. Nowhere is safe from the shelling, although the eyes keep moving, seeking some sort of escape.
The eyes do not belong to one person. There is little focus on the individual in the story. Instead, the eyes belong to a group of soldiers—usually the infantry—who act in one motion, as their eyes sweep the battle area in unison. When Collins leaves the group to act on his own, venturing out into the meadow, he is no longer part of the 400-eyed group. His own eyes, reflected back in the water, are described as “two pieces of metal” (Paragraph 66).This recalls the metal of the weaponry, further dehumanizing Collins.
The House
The house is a reminder of the domestic world, a world before war. But there is no more domestic activity. War has infiltrated all aspects of life; nothing can be untouched by it. Yet another shell hits the house, “and as, after the roar, the shattered wall fell in fragments, there was a noise which resembled the flapping of shutters during a wild gale of winter” (Paragraph 14).The destruction is complete. This comparison of the war-ruined house to a house standing strong despite nature’s “wild gale of winter” shows that while the domestic world can protect one from nature, it cannot protect one from a war created by people. Crane continually compares the images of war to images beyond the war in order to show that war is not isolated to the battlefield but has far-reaching consequences.
The Meadow
Like the water, the meadow is a lure, at least for the lieutenant with the broken arm. His reasons for entering the meadow are not explained. He just goes. The meadow seems to be the only place untouched by war: “Its long, green grass was rippling gently in a breeze” (Paragraph 4).
But the meadow is transformed in an instant: “Its green and beautiful calm had vanished utterly. Brown earth was being flung in monstrous handfuls. And there was a massacre of the young blades of the grass” (Paragraph 12). War devastates everything, from the men who become “white legs stretched horizontally upon the ground” (Paragraph 14) to the small blades of grass.
Just like the house, the meadow is a scene of contrast. Before the war, it was a place of peace and beauty. It’s now destroyed by the shelling. Even the grass is described as being “massacred,” showing that the war devastates everything.
Water
When Collins develops a sudden thirst, only the water in the well can quench his desire. Even though the well is not too far away, to get the water, Collins must cross a type of no man’s land: the meadow that is being shelled. Like Odysseus setting out on his heroic journey to seek home in The Odyssey, Collins, too, must embark on a journey for his bucket of water.
In the end, the life-giving water is spilled before it can be shared due to the frivolousness nature of the two officers, who joke around as they attempt to drink the water. The wasted, spilled water can also symbolize the wasted, spilled blood of the soldiers, whose lives are being swallowed by a war that seems to have no meaning for the men. As much as Collins hopes to hold on to the water, even trying to push the water into the canteen when it seems to move too slowly, the water refuses to be contained, almost mocking Collins in its desire to slip out.
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