Rank vs. Human Judgment Theme Analysis

In “An Episode of War,” Stephen Crane’s snapshot of a wounded Civil War lieutenant’s search for medical treatment, Crane gives none of his characters a name or even a memorable personality. What he gives them is a military rank, which the men immediately flout with their behavior or attitude toward each other. The anonymity of Crane’s characters, and their disregard of status, suggest that low-ranking buglers and high-ranking generals, rather than staying separate in a rigid military hierarchy, are all part of the same basic humanity. The lieutenant’s gunshot wound, however, marks him as exceptional. As he crosses the battle camp toward the infirmary, he meets soldiers who either revere or denigrate him for his injury. Through these different attitudes toward the wounded general, Crane argues that people naturally want to organize themselves into a hierarchy—if rank doesn’t accurately define them, people will find their own, more instinctive ways to create status.

Crane is careful to specify soldiers’ ranks, but his word choices show that he finds such designations artificial. At the story’s opening, Crane’s protagonist, the lieutenant, stands among subordinates like “corporals,” representatives of “grimy […] squads,” and an “orderly-sergeant.” As soon as a bullet strikes him, however, these characters become merely “men.” The lieutenant soon passes “a general” and his “aide,” a “bugler, two or three orderlies, and the bearer of the corps standard.” But as he watches from afar, these designations give way to more general, anonymous words like “aggregation,” “unity,” “mass” (twice), “chorus,” and “battery.” By swapping these official ranks for abstract nouns, Crane prepares readers for the idea that military titles cannot accurately capture human nature even on a battlefield.

A gunshot wound—not the title of lieutenant—is the first thing to make the hasty men respect Crane’s protagonist. Before the gunshot strikes him, the lieutenant’s men “throng” forward rather ignobly to grab their allotments of coffee. But after the lieutenant is hit, the men stare at him in reverence, “statue-like and silent.” A sergeant, the first to approach the wounded man after a period of silence, “tenderly” sheathes the lieutenant’s sword and leans “nervously” backward,” careful not to “brush” a finger against the man. The sergeant is not only scared of harming his lieutenant further; he is awed by the “strange dignity” given to any wounded person. A wound, says Crane, has the power to make “other men understand sometimes that they are little.” By explaining the sergeant’s reverent body language, Crane shifts the typical value system in a war story. From this point on, the lieutenant is no longer active in the fight. So it is now his wound—not the uniform or badges that readers can expect him to wear—that define him on the battlefield.

Other men soon denigrate the lieutenant for his wound. This fact shows that injury, as an identifier of status, elicits more complicated, more realistic attitudes than mere rank might do. The lieutenant meets several officers on his way to the hospital. Though they are his equals, they treat him like a child and “scold” him (a verb Crane repeats) for neglecting his wound. This insult gives readers a sense that although some men revere the “dignity” of injury, as the sergeant did, others clearly do not. Shortly after, when the lieutenant arrives at the hospital, the behavior of workers there reinforces this feeling. The surgeon’s “smile” fades to a look of “scorn” and “contempt” when he sees his superior’s wound. He treats the lieutenant “disdainfully” and mocks his fear of amputation. After the officer and surgeon’s reproaches, Crane explains that the lieutenant’s “wound evidently placed [him] on a very low social plane.” These belittling responses are the exact opposite of the sergeant’s instinctive respect for infirmity. By giving two diametrically opposed attitudes toward the lieutenant’s wound—the sergeant’s respect and the surgeon’s disdain—Crane illustrates a basic fact about humanity: despite the widespread use of rank in war or society, people will settle on more instinctive ways to judge others, such as health or inherent ability.