War and the Five Stages

In reading this I was very pleased to notice how Pirandello handled the parents' discussion of their marked for death offspring. Rather than making it a large pity party as someone who might not have experienced or witnessed such a loss might, they created the argumentation that so often comes with grief, when you try to frame it in a way that is manageable. These parents do so by competing in a small war of their own over who's pain is worse off. What I find most interesting is that they begin bargaining.

Upon noticing this I went back and found that this short story's timeline follows the five stages of grief. It does not by any means bring one character full-circle, but brings the audience through the whole process by way of specific individuals.

We are first met with the mourning mother, who is ensconced within herself and does not speak, she is wrestling with the concept that her son is being sent off to war, and though she may not explicitly be denying this reality, her mannerisms are much of someone who has not yet accepted reality.

Next we are met with the other passengers as they yell at her husband for his tale of woe. They are anger. They flare up at him because he threatens the validity of their own loss, and soon this anger morphs into bargaining, as they discuss what is worse, to lose one son to war and have another, to lose and only son, or to lose all sons.

As the carriage comes to a consensus that all loss is awful they grown grim, a small moment in which we find depression. But this is cut short by the passenger who argues that none should cry. That the best way to die is in war, that he is proud of his son. This man represents acceptance.

However, the story is not as clear cut as this, as all the characters hold multiple facets. In the end the man who seems to accept his son's death, is seen growing closer and closer to tears, implying that he is in denial and only telling himself he has accepted things. In fact, when asked in outright terms if his son is dead, he bursts into tears as he truly realizes that his son is gone.