Editha By Howells Analysis

“Editha” by William Dean Howells is a historical fiction short story written to emphasize the romanticism the main character holds towards war. Young Editha Balcom is engaged to a conscientious objector, George Gearson, who aspires to be a pastor. However, with war on the horizon, she believes he should join in the war effort to bring honor to their country. Through much persistence on her part, she persuades George to join and he becomes a captain. To the despair of Editha, George dies in the first battle. Though she is heartbroken, she holds to the belief that persuading George to leave was the right thing to do. That is, until she follows through on a promise to George to visit his mother in case anything should happen to him. While visiting with his mother, she is awoken from her self-pity with some choice words from Mrs. Gearson: “You didn’t expect that, I suppose, when you sent him” (Howells). Editha never expected George to be killed, she expected him to come home and receive glory for his bravery. Though Mrs. Gearson makes an excellent point, Editha is not affected by her words for long and soon returns to her romantic view on war.
Howells weaves his ideals into almost every …show more content…
She even fantasizes at the thought of George losing an arm like his father did. In fact, arms are mentioned repetitively throughout the story which points to the fact that it is meant to be a symbol. A logical reason that Howells used arms as symbolism is explained by Edward J. Piacentino: “As the pattern of arms imagery in ‘Editha’ attests, Editha Balcom is weak and insecure. To be sure, she needs arms to direct her, to afford her physical security and the support of love, and ultimately, as her confrontation with Mrs. Gearson illustrates, to correct her” (Piacentino). This view would parallel with Howells’s opinion on “loving” something without completely understanding