The short story “Editha” by William Dean Howells, published in 1905, revolves around the ideals of war and its romanticized vision. Through each character, Howells presents a contrasting view of war. Editha, and her vision of the glorious war willed by God, is able to push her fiancé George to join the battle. When he dies shortly after his departure, his mother makes her views on the matter very clear. a point of view, but also a part of America; Editha being the idealistic majority, George being the realistic but easily convinced minority, and George's mother being the realistic and morally strong 1 percent. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on '. Why violent video games shouldn't be banned?Get the original essay The story's main character, Editha, wages war according to a fictionalized standard that presents her as a representation of America's idealistic and morally weak majority. When the story begins, Editha speaks. to her fiancé George about the war that has just started. Although George seems rather opposed to the war and his opinions on it, Editha is firm on hers, and it is that he must go into battle. Howells expresses her enduring opinions very clearly: "...she was conscious that now, at the very beginning, she must be careful not to induce him, by any word or deed, to take the side which his whole soul wanted him to do." 'he takes, because the completion of his ideal of him' (308). Editha not only wants but needs her fiancé to participate in the war, because if he doesn't, he will never realize his ideal. Despite her decision not to push George towards any decision, she does so anyway by continuing to talk about the war and its glory. John B. Humma, in a new review, asserts that "the majority will almost always do what they want, no matter what." Like the majority, Editha does what she wants, regardless of her fiancé's personal opinions. There are no personal opinions when it comes to the chauvinistic majority, there is only the idealistic vision of a united nation. She takes hers to the extreme, as evidenced by the letter she writes to him before he makes a decision on what to do. In her letter, Editha tells her fiancé that either he goes to war or she will leave him: "There is no honor above America with me." In this great hour there is no other honor” (Howells 311). Her idealistic idea of ​​war is more important to her than her own relationship, because if her fiancé is not one of those who supports America as much as she seems, to the point that he is willing to risk his own life on the battlefield, so she doesn't want to be with him. Although George is questionable about the war, particularly his own participation in it, Editha is at full length, indicating that the romanticized idea of ​​glory for her through her husband outweighs the moral foundation on which rest George's opinions. This leads to the idea that Editha, like the majority of Americans, suffers from stupid ignorance. Because when Editha pushes her fiancé into war, she does not think of all the possible outcomes but only of those that involve dazzling glory. Humma talks about this particular idea: "His blind allegiance to a sentimental, chauvinistic ideal reflects the majority view, but Editha and that view are both so stupid...". The majority's views are blind, as Humma says, because they are viewed in an idealistic way that only targets exaggerated patriotism and not individuals or their own moral beliefs. At the end of the story, after the death of her fiancé during the war, Editha continues her life in the same way.manner than before: “…and from that moment on she rose from shame and self-pity and began to live in the ideal again” (Howells 317). Even after what would be a terrible tragedy for anyone, Editha continues her life as usual. The majority, like Editha, when faced with a threat to their uniform ideals, simply push through and continue in the name of patriotism and blind allegiance to what could eventually be exposed as a morally unjust cause. In contrast, George seems to view war as a mistake and often questions whether war is really the answer, but ends up going the way of the majority due to pressure and his own internal interests. conflict, presenting him as a representation of America's weak minority who often abandon their moral views to follow the norm. At the beginning of the story, George questions the war and his involvement in it as his fiancée, Editha, urges him to join her. George constantly questions whether war is really the answer to the country’s problems: “It’s not this war alone; I thought this seemed particularly foolish and unnecessary; but it’s every war – it’s so stupid; It makes me sick. Why couldn't this matter have been resolved reasonably? (Howells 309). George reveals that the war seems unreasonable to him. His morality tells him that there are other ways to resolve disagreements, contrary to what seems to be the majority opinion. George's morality seems strong because he has sound reasoning behind it; War is not reasonable because there are other, more reasonable ways to resolve disputes. He thus represents the American minority because he uses reasoning to support his morals and opinions instead of simply following a blind idealistic path. However, George's morality begins to collapse and appears weak once his opinions are challenged by Editha or the majority. Hummas writes, “Through George, Howells dramatizes the fact that America has neither the strength of will nor the moral strength to act on its best convictions.” So, even if the convictions and moral ideas are there, they remain useless in the face of the brutal patriotism of the majority. George and the minority don't stand a chance. Even when George joins the war, he only follows the judgment of everyone else. Despite George's initial thoughts about war, he goes against his best wishes. In his critique, Hummas explains that even though moral thoughts are in the minority, in George they are pushed aside and swallowed: “…the intelligence remains, but the will, the character to act according to the truth, has largely dried up. » . Morality is present but the actions taken do not prove it. The minority is represented by George because, just like them, George never takes action to enforce his own moral beliefs. Both let their opinions reside within themselves and instead follow the external opinions of the majority. The realistic, morally strong 1% of America is represented by George's mother who, having already been through a different war, knows where she stands morally and has the strength and character to represent it. George's mother only enters the story after George's death, when Editha decides to visit her. From the moment Editha enters the mother's house, the mother makes her point of view clear. It seems like she blames Editha for her son's death. Editha's strong, but morally weak, opinions pushed her son directly toward his own death. George's mother argues Editha's judgment and ideals: “I suppose you would have been happy to die, a person as brave as you! I don’t think he was happy to die…. I guess,. 2016.