The Death Of A Soldier Analysis

In The Death of a Soldier, Louisa May Alcott tells the poignant story of her experience as nurse for a young soldier named John, who was painfully injured in his very first battle and who is predicted to die from the wound. Alcott uses imagery and emotional language to create the scene of her experience, and gives depth to the character of John through small insights that allow the reader to see the innocence of a man who could have easily been war hardened and cynical about his fate.
John is presented curiously. When Alcott first introduces the reader to him, the doctor pronounces, “It will be a hard struggle, and a long one, for he possesses great vitality; but even his temperate life can’t save him; I wish it could.” This establishes the pretense that John will die; the reader does not have reason to care, as they do not yet know …show more content…
Certain words and phrases have the ability to sway a reader’s perception of a situation. For example, Alcott begins the essay with a conversation between her and the doctor. Immediately, it is made clear that John will die. There is nothing delicate about this assertion but Alcott’s response, “You don’t mean he must die, Doctor?”, implies that there is a reason to fear the death of this stranger, to want to stave it off. Even Alcott herself does not appear to realize why John must live until later but this combination, right at the beginning, intrigues the reader enough to continue. Later, after seeing John suffering silently through a dressing change, she says, “Let me help you bear it, John.” This subtly turns the reader to believing John to be in need of assistance and companionship. More than that, it says that he deserves it. Continually throughout the excerpt, Alcott uses such nudges as these to direct the reader’s opinions and sympathies, until the death of John is a tragedy rather than another casualty of another war, however