What I found interesting about the short story “Editha” by William Dean Howells is the vagueness of the war that he describes. Since George mentions his father fighting in the Civil War, I initially assumed it must have been about the First World War. But the publication date, in 1905, means this story predates World War I by almost ten years. Therefore the war must be fictional; but Howells does not describe the circumstances of the war. Editha describes it only by making sweeping generalizations, such as when she says it is “for the liberation of people who have been struggling for years against the cruelest oppression” (354). Editha doesn’t describe who these people are, or what kind of oppression they are facing. She also doesn’t explain why it is necessary for America to go to war to fight for these people.
Instead of focusing on the details of the war, Howells focuses on emotions. Howells describes how once Editha had written a letter imploring George to enlist “she rested serene in the consciousness of having done what was laid upon her by her love itself to do” (356). The use of the word “serene” contrasts very strongly with the reality of war, which is bloody and violent. When speaking of George, Howells describes how after he enlisted “he was very gay, and he put his arm around her [Editha] with a boisterous laugh” (357). Again, these emotions are at odds with the reality of war. By enlisting, George has volunteered to leave his family and potentially risk death, yet he is described as being “gay” and “boisterious”. With these descriptions, Howells shows the irrational nature of the decision to go to war. In addition, by refusing to define the specifics of the war in the story, Howells is making his critique applicable to all wars. Someone reading this story could recognize the circumstances of World War I or the Vietnam War or the invasion of Iraq. In this way, the story is not just a critique of a single war, but a critique of the very idea of war itself. It becomes a warning about the danger of getting lost in patriotic feelings and forgetting the devastating consequences of war.
I also found myself wondering about the war itself as well. Upon learning the background/historical context behind this short story –being the Spanish-American War –and having observed how vague Howells is about it, it reminds me of the discussion we had in class about historical context being one of the many characteristics that makes a text literary. The other point would be a sense of universality, and as you said, Howells makes it about the idea of war and the emotional implications associated with it to reflect wars in general and not just confine it to the Spanish-American war.