Previous
Part 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Horseman in the Sky, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Duty, Morality, and Justice
Sons vs. Fathers
The Horrors of the Civil War
Summary
Analysis
The sleeping soldier is revealed to be Carter Druse. Druse is the only son of wealthy Virginians whose childhood was the definition of privilege and comfort. His childhood home was not far from where he now lay.
The narrator recalls the moment in which Druse announced that he would be fighting for the Union: he stood from breakfast table and announced that a Union regiment was passing through the area and he would be joining it, rather than fighting for the Confederacy and his Virginia homeland.
That Druse could so feasibly fight for the army that would be opposing his homeland highlights the uniquely moral conflict of the Civil War. While slavery is never explicitly named in the story, it forms the moral undercurrent of the story. Bierce himself was an abolitionist, and he seems to write this into context of Druse.
Themes
Druse’s father solemnly replied, “Well, go, sir, and whatever may occur do what you conceive to be your duty. Virginia, to which you are a traitor, must get on without you.” He also relays that Druse’s mother is dying, but if both father and son should survive, they will speak again after the war has ended. Druse and his father part ways, showing each other reverence and courtesy. Druse’s father is secretly heartbroken.
Druse leaves his parents’ home to become a soldier. By his bravery and strength of character he earns the high regard of his comrades and his officers, and for these qualities and his familiarity with the western Virginian territory he is posted as the sentry at the edge of the valley.
Themes
Literary Devices
Get the entire A Horseman in the Sky LitChart as a printable PDF.
Even so, exhaustion overcame willpower and Druse fell asleep. Now, though neither sound nor touch has disturbed him, Druse awakes and takes hold of his rifle. He instantly knows that something is amiss, as if something supernatural had whispered to him and roused him from sleep.
Themes
Literary Devices
Druse spies a figure standing against the cliff’s edge, a horse and rider. The rider’s face is turned away from him, looking downward into the valley. Druse’s first reaction is admiration for the great aesthetic quality of it all. The horseman is framed against the open sky, making him appear massive in size. The afternoon sun and the colors of the uniform remind Druse of a Greek statue of a god, and for a moment Druse feels as if the war has ended in his sleep and he is looking upon a carved monument.
Themes
Literary Devices
The horse moves very slightly and brings Druse back to the reality of the situation. Druse knows that he must kill the horseman to keep the regiments hidden from their enemies. He readies his rifle, still lying hidden in the bush, and takes aim at the horseman’s breast.
Themes
The horseman turns his head so that Druse can see his face, though the horseman cannot see Druse. Though Druse knows he is still hidden, he feels as if the horseman looked straight into his eyes and into his heart. Druse becomes suddenly anguished by the thought of killing the man, though he knows that it would be done to protect his comrades. He briefly hallucinates that the horse and rider are a great black figure set against a fiery sky. He becomes pale and nearly faints for a moment.
Themes
Literary Devices
Druse regains his composure, sure that he must kill the horseman. He knows that he cannot possibly capture the scout, and though he briefly entertains the notion that perhaps the horseman has not discovered the regiments and may go free unharmed, a quick glance into the valley shows him that the Union soldiers are revealed. The man must be shot down from his hidden position with no warning. Druse takes aim again, but this time aims at the horse rather than the rider. Druse’s father’s admonition, “Whatever may occur do what you conceive to be your duty,” echoes in his memory. Druse steadies himself and fires the shot.
Themes
Literary Devices
