Bonus Blog

After reading Howells' story "Editha," I had a whole different perspective on the meaning of patriotism and imperialism. On the subject of the Spanish-American War, the Americans chose to fight a battle on their own terms that had the potential to desecrate an entire generation of people. At this time, there was no draft in place, but many young Americans still strove for war and had the hunger to fight and defend their country.

Editha's husband, George, was not one of these men initially. I found it very confusing that Editha was the one eager for her husband to jump into battle, and George was very apprehensive. Relating with today's world, where there is no longer a draft in place again, and people go to war by choice, it is very common that women, whether they be girlfriends, wives, mothers, or sisters, dread the men in their life going to war and risk death. But these roles were definitely reversed in Editha.

It's ironic, because reflecting on this story, I found that if the rules we have today applied back then, and women were allowed to go to war and fight for their country, Editha would probably not have been near as eager and enthusiastic to enlist in the war. Although she pushed and blackmailed her husband into war, because she was so sure that it was the right, patriotic thing to do, if it came down to her herself having to actually be put into battle and put her life on the line, she probably would have had much different of a perspective.

This truly showed her selfishness that she didn't mind her husband risking his life for her personal pleasure. She knew she would love him more and feel a greater sense of pride to be his wife if he went to war, fought for his country, and returned back to her as a hero. She wasn't realistic that his life really was at risk and he could very much so potentially die in battle and not return home to her. But she didn't care, because all that mattered was that she got what she wanted. She preferred to live in her own little world full of naive and selfish tendencies, which in turn made her appear crazy and out of touch with reality.