The struggle to rationalize leaving for war in this piece feels like an internal monologue despite being driven by the voices of various characters. The passengers in the carriage bounce back and forth between acknowledging and diminishing the pain felt by the husband and wife over the likely inevitable loss of their son. This dynamic felt similar to the kind of moral struggle where one is pulled between justifications of different kinds of logic that all bring compelling points in their favor.
In time, the conflict moves into the abstract through the voice of the fat red-faced traveler. The mother finds comfort in moving away from having to choose between the equally unsatisfying arguments of the other passengers to a narrative that seems to make pain disappear for her son. In the end however, the traveler's idealized view of war cannot confront the reality at hand.
This is an interesting description of the lack of communication between the characters. I agree that in practice, it does become a group of monologues, at least until the ending.
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