Two Soldiers By William Faulkner

652 Words3 Pages
In “Two Soldiers” William Faulkner clearly illustrates how brotherhood is a much more complex bond than many think. Faulkner intentionally makes Pete’s younger brother the narrator of this story, so that the complexities of brotherhood can be seen, through the eyes of a naïve, young boy. Moreover how their brotherly bond complicates and deepens their brotherhood. His sincere lack of knowledge of the world around him is revealed when the young boy states, “Yes, firewood or no firewood, I reckon we got to go” in response to Pete‘s declaration that he must go off to war (Faulkner 83). The “we” demonstrates how the younger brother believes that he and Pete will always be together. The younger brother goes on to respond, “You’ll whup the big uns and I’ll whup the little uns”(Faulkner 83). These two quotes from the young brother express how he sees his brotherhood with Pete. He perceives that they will always be together, and believes they will always do everything together. This is seldom the case, because sometimes one must let go of the people one loves for a little while. Pete goes on to tell his brother, “you just can’t go. You’re too little, in the first place, and in the second place ----”(Faulkner 84). The pause at the end of this quote shows a major complexity to their brotherhood that it is not the simple fact that Pete’s younger brother is way too young to go, and also that Pete doesn’t want him in harm’s way. He does not want to entertain that as a possibility even thus showing a deep love for his younger brother. When Pete leaves for Memphis to join the army, his younger brother is not far behind him, continuing to think that he will be able to go off to war with Pete. He gets to Jefferson and tries to buy a bus ticket for the rest of the way, but people are concerned about a young boy traveling by himself. The young brother keeps repeating “I got to get to

More about Two Soldiers By William Faulkner

Open Document