Student Question
In "The Coup de Grace," what is Bierce's message about friendship? Was Captain Madwell's decision correct?
Quick answer:
In the short story "The Coup de Grace" by Ambrose Bierce, the author is implying that in friendship, someone may sometimes feel compelled to hurt or kill a friend out of mercy. Whether in the story Captain Madwell does the right thing depends upon the perspectives of Madwell, his friend Caffal Halcrow, and Halcrow's brother Major Halcrow.
The short story "The Coup de Grace" by Ambrose Bierce takes place after a battle of the Civil War. The area is full of the bodies of the dead and badly wounded, and an officer named Captain Madwell finds his friend Caffal Halcrow on the field. Halcrow is severely wounded and in such great pain that he is not lucid. He appears to be at the point of death. Madwell notices that Halcrow's wounds are unusual, and then he observes some wild pigs feeding upon the dead. The implication is that the pigs were responsible for the rip in Halcrow's abdomen.
Madwell perceives that his friend is suffering so much that he wants to receive a coup de grace. In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a coup de grace is defined as
a death blow or death shot administered to end the suffering of one mortally wounded.
To illustrate this concept, Bierce...
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writes that Madwell first kills a wounded horse and then returns to his friend. Since he is out of bullets, Madwell kills Halcrow with his sword. Bierce is making the point that strong friendship may involve hurting or even killing the person you love. Theirony of the ending is that a moment later Halcrow's brother arrives with medics and a stretcher.
Whether Captain Madwell does the right thing or not is a matter of perspective. He certainly supposed that he was being merciful and bestowing a kindness upon his friend by killing him. The sun was setting, and as far as Madwell could see, the rest of the surgeons and soldiers had left the field for the day. Madwell had nothing to carry his friend in to the hospital on and no medical supplies with which to treat him. His friend was incoherent and in agonizing pain. Captain Madwell undoubtedly felt that he was doing what was right, or he would not have ended his friend's life.
As Bierce explains the situation, the wounded Halcrow is in such severe pain that he longs for death. Madwell is sure that the look he sees on his friend's face is a "silent plea" to kill him. If this interpretation of the look is true, then Halcrow would also believe that Madwell was doing the right thing and even welcome the mercy killing.
However, Bierce explains earlier in the story that Major Creede Halcrow, Caffal Halcrow's brother, and Captain Madwell had both "natural antipathy" and "active animosity." In other words, they hated each other. When Major Halcrow came with hospital attendants and a stretcher, he would obviously not think that Captain Madwell had done the right thing in killing his brother.