"A Horseman in the Sky" highlights the destructive impact of the war on a single family. The central character is a young Virginian, named Carter Druse, a Union soldier from the South who must make a terrible decision between his family and his duty.
“A Horseman in the Sky” is a play written by Ambrose Bierce. It is the
time during American Civil War. One morning Carter Druse, main character of the
play, tells his father Mr. Druse that he wants to join the union army who are
against slavery system and detachment (टुक्रा , अलगाव )of the states of America. As his father is
against the union army and he is in confederate army, he is not too happy with
his son and calls him a traitor (देशद्रोही). By joining the
union Carter will be against his own state. Yet Mr. Druse respects his decision
and tells him that he must always do his duty. Cater and his father decide not
to tell it to Carter’s mother because she is her health is too bad and Carter’s
this decision may make her health worse. Leaving sick
mother Druse goes in soldier for the nation.
Carter is in his
duty. He falls asleep on duty, when he wakes up he sees an enemy soldier, on a
cliff opposite to him. He is a
confederate soldier sitting on his horse. A moment later he is shocked to see
the man is his father. There comes two alternatives for him either to choose
duty or to choose family. Then he remembers his father’s advice. Finally he shoots at the horse
causing the horse and the rider falling down from the cliff. One soldier
witnesses the horse and Confederate soldier fall off the cliff and seemingly
fly through the air. It appears like a horseman in the sky.
In this way he unwillingly kills his father. It shows that soldiers are
sad after the war ended because the enemies were their own relatives. War caused emotional pain. Bierce explores
the themes of duty and family in this story. Carter Druse claims a strong sense
of duty to his chosen cause, but seems to focus more on his rebellion against
his father.
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