The Upturned Face (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Stephen Crane
- First Published: 1900
- Type of Plot: Sketch
- Time of Work: The late 1800's
- Setting: A battlefield in an unspecified war
- Principal Characters: Timothy Lean, An adjutant, Bill, Two privates
- Genres: Short fiction, Sketch
- Subjects: Nineteenth century, War, Death or dying, Funeral rites or ceremonies, Soldiers, Battles
The Story
As two soldiers contemplate the body of a dead comrade, lying on the battlefield at their feet, its face turned toward the sky, the adjutant asks Lieutenant Timothy Lean, “What will we do now?” Lean decides that the body must be buried and calls two enlisted men to dig a grave. Meanwhile, the adjutant and Lean decide that the clothes of the dead man must be searched, and the task falls to Lean. Hesitant to touch the corpse, he shakily completes the chore. As the grave is being dug and the search is being performed, enemy bullets fly overhead. Finally, the two...
[The entire page is 1412 words long]
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