When describing Druse’s initial reaction to spying the horseman on the cliff, the narrator uses a metaphor, as seen in the following passage:
The figure of the man sat the figure of the horse, straight and soldierly, but with the repose of a Grecian god carved in the marble which limits the suggestion of activity. The gray costume harmonized with its aërial background; the metal of accoutrement and caparison was softened and subdued by the shadow.
Here, the narrator metaphorically compares the “straight and soldierly” horseman to a statue, or “a Grecian god carved in the marble.” This description helps readers experience the scene more fully by being able to picture the man atop his horse. It also points to Druse’s artistic sensibility. As the narrator explains earlier in the story, Druse was raised in a wealthy family, and his aesthetic appreciation of the horseman likely emerges from his parents exposing him to art like this in his youth.
That Druse is not initially terrified of the horseman, but in awe of him, also draws a subtle connection between Druse’s admiration of the horseman with his admiration of his father. While he knows that the horseman represents the Confederacy, he also respects the splendor of the man’s figure and “repose,” similar to how, while he is fighting against the Confederacy, he still respects his father as a person.
