The curt, hot-headed surgeon, denigrates the lieutenant when he finally reaches the field hospital, and he mocks the lieutenant’s fear of amputation. Building on the dismissive behavior of an officer earlier in the story, the surgeon makes it clear that people in war can look down on the injured. He is “busy” when the injured lieutenant finally reaches the hospital, a stressful and hectic place, but he still has time for a “friendly smile” and a “Good morning.” When he spots the man’s injury, however, the surgeon’s kindness freezes into dramatically curt treatment and a look of “great contempt.” He now acts “impatiently,” “disdainfully,” and with “scorn.” This instant switch in demeanor makes it clear to the reader that the man sees illness and injury as evidence of weakness. By being so mean to the undeserving lieutenant just because he’s hurt, the surgeon illustrates one of Crane’s central themes: that people judge each other less by rank or status and more by their own private value systems, like health or inherent ability. Aside from illustrating the ways in which people can be judgmental, the surgeon also shows how people can damage the self-esteem of others. “This wound,” says Crane, “evidently placed [the lieutenant] on a very low social plane.” The surgeon uses language that makes this low social opinion clear both to the reader and to the protagonist. He makes the lieutenant act “very meek” and guilty for the simple accident of having been shot. And when the surgeon scolds the man’s fear (“Come along. Don’t be a baby”), he makes the lieutenant seem as inexperienced and irrational as a child. (It doesn’t help that the terrified lieutenant won’t enter the hospital, a converted schoolhouse, in fear of the treatment he’ll find there.) The surgeon’s suggestion of infancy is crucial to the lieutenant’s shame, a feeling that takes root when he’s injured under embarrassing circumstances and worsens as he discovers his own ignorance and ill-preparedness. Arriving at the climax of the story, the surgeon’s belittlement cements Crane’s theme that war has a unique ability to show people—in this case, the lieutenant—their own shortcomings in painful detail.
