Summary of the Horseman In the Sky

Horse Man In The Sky

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. 

Main Summary of A Horseman in the Sky

A  Horseman in the Sky is a play written by Ambrose Bierce. It is the time during American Civil War. One morning Carter Druse, the main character of the play, tells his father Mr Druse that he wants to join the union army who are against the slavery system and the detachment of the states of America. As his father is against the union army and he is in the confederate army, he is not too happy with his son and calls him a traitor.  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 decides not to tell 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 to fall 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.

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 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.

Short Summary

The story begins with a Union soldier named Carter Druse struggling to stay awake at his duty post. He knows that sleeping is a treasonous act; if the Confederacy becomes aware of the Union plan to ambush their camp, Druse's fellow soldiers will be in danger. As he lies at his post, Druse remembers the day that he told his father of his intentions to join the Union army and his father's disappointment that Carter did not choose the Confederacy. As his mother was on her death bed, Carter and his father decide not to tell her, but part respectfully. 

Druse becomes alert when he sees a Confederate soldier in the distance. He is immediately taken aback by the artistic beauty of the image of the soldier in the distance. Druse draws his gun to shoot, but then ''the horseman turned his head and looked in the direction of his concealed foeman--seemed to look into his very face, into his eyes, into his brave, compassionate heart.'' Druse falls ill and is unable to follow through with killing this man. Then, remembering his duty, and realizing that the Confederate soldier must have seen some of his peers as they watered their horses, Druse fires his weapon.

A Federal officer happens by in time to see the Confederate soldier and his horse falling off the cliff, which is so beautiful in the way that the horse appears to be flying, that he begins to wonder if he is ''the chosen scribe of some new Apocalypse.'' Rattled, the officer returns to his commander and decides not to mention what he has seen. Druse's commanding officer hears the shot and asks for a report about what has happened. Druse explains that he shot at a horse in the distance. When asked if there was anyone on the horse, Druse admits that the Confederate soldier he shot was, ironically, his father.

Relate Questions & Answer

Why did Mr. Druse call his son a traitor?

Carter’s father wanted his son to join the confederate army and to save his state from slavery. Young Carter Druse joined the union ( Federal )army instead of joining the Confederate (associated)  army. So Mr. Druse called his son a traitor( conspirator).

Why did the father advise his son not to tell everything to his mother?

The father advised his son not to tell everything to his mother because his mother was sick. She would be upset from the fact that father and son are going to fight from two sides and his news might make her more serious and might further weaken her mother’s health.

What were two alternatives for Carter?

The two alternatives for carter were duty to his job or to family. Either decision he made seemed morally wrong. If he joined an army, he would destroy the enemy. He had a duty to protect his comrades, but the army code did not say how one’s military obligations affected his other responsibilities. 

What are the achievements of the civil war?

The two achievements of the civil war were the United State was united and slavery ended.