William Dean Howells was famous for writing novels based on literary realism. Through his literary realism work he avoided romanticism because he said it was considered naturalism. He also avoided heroic characters but focused more on realistic characters. Howells was considered the founder of realism work of literature. One example of his realism work was the biography work he done for Lincoln before he was the president. Howell has written over 100 different books ranging from-novels, collections of short stories essays, autobiographies, and verse.
I really don't like Editha the way she is portrayed in this novel. The man she loves ,George, is basically forced to go to war to prove his love for him. She has a misconception of what makes a man. He has to be willing to sacrifice his own life for his country in order to be a real man. This is a reflection of how times have changed. This novel reminds me of a movie I saw called "The Four Feathers". Heath Ledger had to run in hiding because he refused to fight for his own country. His true love is ashamed of him and refuses to marry him. When I read the part where she wrote the letter to George my heart sank. I couldn't believe that she was willing to refuse to marry George if he didn't go to war. Needless to say, George does go to war and he is the captain of the troop. George ends up getting killed and doesn't return from war. Editha feels so guilty that she literally gets deathly sick. She decides that she has to go see George's mom in order to get rid of her guilt. George's mom is filled with anger when she finaly fingures out who Editha is.
George's mom had a right to get angry at Editha. Especially, after George had decided to give his mom the letter she had wrote him. Prior to him going to war he had told Editha to go to his mom's house to take care of her. I think George had sent her there to get back at her for making him go to war. George knew that his mom would be angry at her and he wanted her to feel guilty.
The other question could be do I think that Editha loved George? Did George love Editha? I don't think she loved him but she loved the thougths of someone sacrificing their life for her. She wanted someone she could brag about because she is an egotistical girl. George on the other hand, I feel his love for Editha was pure. He would do anything to make her happy. People who really love each other have to be willing to sacrifice their own life to make sure the other one is safe.
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