A Late Encounter With the Enemy

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"A Late Encounter with the Enemy"

By

Flannery O'Connor

Character Analysis of General Sash

"A Late Encounter with the Enemy," by Flannery O'Connor, is a story of a gutless old man with an extended amount of pride and dignity. He has participated in many exalting events in history, such as the Civil War, Spanish American War, and his fondest memory, the premiere for Gone In the Wind, which is now ranked one of the best movies of all time. This character, General Sash, has several issues. First of all, General Sash feels inferior and dominant over others around him. Second, General Sash has no regard for his family, such as his caretaker, who is his granddaughter, Sally Poker. And thirdly, General Sash does not care for history whether it is in the past, present, or future, which later in the story haunts him in the final moments of his life.

"Living had got to be such a habit with him that he couldn't conceive of any other condition." (480) Finding this quote in the beginning of the story indicates a clear realization of General Sash's character. The General imagines that he has lived for so long, that he is destined to live for eternity as if he was a God. In relation to Richard Giannone's characterization of General Sash, Giannone determines that General Sash is not just a coward, ungodly, an enemy of God, but also specifies that General Sash commits the oldest sin of all by believing himself to be the source of life. The General feels that once he is in his uniform that there is nothing greater than he is, signifying that he was better than everyone else was, "… there wouldn't be anything to equal him in his uniform."(480)

The second issue the General has is his disrespectfulness. The General is disrespectful in two ways; his out-most disrespect for the public and his disrespect to Sally Poker. The General was disrespectful to the public several times. Once when he was invited to sit at the old pilgrimage homes. "Some of these times he only snarled at the visitors but sometimes he told about the premiere and the beautiful girls." (485) The General also was invited to sit as a living history exhibit at the museum, and once smacked a child's hand for trying to touch his sword. Sally Poker, the General's granddaughter, appeared that she honored her grandfather. Sally Poker's desire was for her grandfather to attend her graduation, but "the General didn't give two slaps for her graduation but he never doubted he would live for it." (480) The only way the General would attend her graduation was if he was put on the stage in his uniform and his sword across his lap, so that everyone could see him and glorify him. Sally then saw to it that he would have a role in the ceremony and he would sit on the stage. This particular event showed how egocentric the General was, that he could not attend his granddaughter's graduation with out being boasted. Another way the General was disrespectful, was by the way he talked to Sally in front of others or even alone. For instance, when the General would tell the story of the premiere with his guests, Sally would interrupt his story to talk about the corsage she had received for the premiere. The General would respond with a bad-mannered comment saying, "It was as big as her head." (48) And then he would continue with "I was tellin it," as if she was of no importance. Incomparability, the General was extremely thoughtless of Sally's graduation day. While getting the General dressed in the hotel room, the General would cuss at her saying, "Put the soward acrost my lap, damn you," the old man said, "where it'll shine."(486) Sally, ignoring her grandfather's ignorance, complimented him on how grand he looked and all he had to say was, "God damn it…God damn everything to hell." (486) Once again the General had no admiration for his graduating granddaughter and under no circumstances remained self-centered.

At the beginning of the story, "enemy," means death. As Sash's family history unfolds, "enemy," becomes synonymous with "everyone" and "every place." (Giannone 50). As the General was sitting in the blazing sun, he felt "as if there were a little hole beginning to widen in the top of his head." (487) At this moment, the General's third issue, history, took hold of him, tearing him apart inside. History found its way through the General's head and made him suffer ten times worse as he had made others suffer previously in his life. The General's past had hit him with such pain, making you wonder whether he had come to a realization of how cowardly he was.

"…the entire past opened up on him out of nowhere and he felt his body riddled in a hundred places with sharp stabs of pain and he fell down, returning a curse for every hit. He saw his wife's narrow face looking at him critically through her round gold rimmed glasses; he saw one of his squinting bald headed sons; and his mother ran toward him with an anxious look; then a succession of places…" (488-8)

Sash confronts his disobedience in the faces of betrayed family members, rushing at him "as if the past were the only future now and he had to endure it." (48) In this array of faces, Sash finds the image of the good man who holds the mercy that will allow him the General to endure the future. At long last, the lonely and depleted 104 year old veteran is taken into companionship with God. (Giannone 51)

Throughout the story, you get this clear picture that General Sash is a bitter old man and very much a coward, but the author, Flannery O'Connor, gives you vague information about the General's true past history. She tells you what you need to know, but you never really understand why he is such a coward. In the end you learn several things about life, and how things should be interpreted. One, do not take things for granted. Two, respect your elders even if they are old and crippled. And three, never loose hope and become ungodly, for it will come back to haunt you.

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