Dec 29, 2009

The Upturned Face | The Upturned Face

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]

The Upturned Face | The Upturned Face

At a glance:

The Story

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