William Dean Howells was known for many things. He wrote novels, edited a magazine, and was a well known critic. He was unexpectedly from a small town in Ohio, the son of a printer. As a child he showed promise and was remarkably smart. He spent much of his childhood days reading, and I have noticed that many well known writers and poets spent much of their life reading. He went on to be the editor of several magazines, and wrote over a hundred novels. I can not imagine the dedication this man must have had to accomplish the amount of work he did in his career. Howells was a writer who made characters very real and did not make out a hero in every novel. I admire the realness of his stories, because life is not full of heroes. It seems to focus on real life situations, and things that would actually happen. Humans are not perfect and I like to read stories that are portrayed in that manner.
We were asked to read William Dean Howells, "Editha" a short story. Editha was very real to me, maybe because we are recently in a time of war. This story really hit home. Editha is a beautiful young women caught up in the idea of having a hero. She is determined to have her fiance go to war. Does she even know anything about war? Her reasoning behind him going is almost childish. She wants him to go so bad, but she has no true reasons for him to go. Her boyfriend Gearson is very committed to Editha. At first as they are talking, Gearson is against war. There are many valid reasons he is against war, and he does not understand why people resort to such fighting. She presses and presses him to think her way. Women are very good and saying things in a way that manipulates, and sometimes they do not realize what they are saying.
She was so set in her way of thinking, believing she needs him to prove he is a hero. What better way than to fight for your country? He leaves distraught, and thinking a lot about what she has said. She is so convicted that he must go to war she even writes him a letter saying so. Her mother is against the idea, and I think her wisdom is a reason for that. Editha is very young and has not experienced life or death. She does not think about the bad things that could happen, because like most people "it can't happen to me" holds strong in their mind. When Gearson comes back he is excited and has completely done turn around from the talk they had had before. Gearson is now going to war, and sends a sense of thrill through Editha. She is excited by the news and encourages Gearson to go. He is so "high" on the idea of going to war, that in that moment no one was thinking about what could happen.
It turns out to be very ironic, which I already predicted. Gearson is killed in battle. The news comes very soon, since he was one of the first to go to war. Editha is shocked and does not know what to think. She had promised to visit his mother and so she did. His mother was furious, because she knew why Gearson went to war. She knew that Editha was a child and had wanted a hero. Now all she had was sadness and the dream of her hero coming home was gone. It was all fantasy built up in her head, like a love story. Gearson's mother spoke the truth and Editha finally realized and felt the pain of losing Gearson. In the end we all witness the moment when Editha moves from a world of fantasy to a world of realism.
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