THEMES+FROM+THE+PERIOD

During this time of war and reconstruction, not only was the nation changing but as well as the arts of music, paintings, and literature. The Realism movement in art and literature called for a more of a realistic view in the middle class and scientific approaches to things. It was a time to seek rationality the ideal which shifted the paradigm the country had. The themes found in the short story are those of courage and the harsh conditions of war. The reality of how much can be lost in war and of how hurtful it actually is. The main character shows how hard it is emotional and physically. This new era of rationalism led to progressivism to soon change how the nation was running.

One main theme found in the piece of work, is the idea of revival and starting over after hard times. This revival is not easy but comes along with some difficulties and some obstacles to overcome to succeed. In the story the lieutenant is injured during war and gets his arm amputated. The amputation was better than dieing but his new life will commence with the obstacle of not having an arm. This is a parallel with the situation of the country. Once the country reunited, government was facing harsh times trying to slowly admit the states back into the union. Also, the black people were also an issue and the southerners were still showing some hostility. The union had to work hard and long to slowly reunite the union and once again become a powerful nation, leaving the civil war in the past.

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