The tone of the story is not overtly moralistic, but we know that the author is using a sarcastic tone when George refers to the holy war "blessing butchery." The author does not endorse the political stance of his country; he uses the character of George to criticize the evidently much publicized war. For example, Howells questions the sanctity of war through George when he says, "But war! Is it glorious to break the peace of the world?" The story’s tone turns disapproving when Editha faces George’s mother. Howells uses Mrs. Gearson to bluntly criticize the highly idealized and romantic vision of war, when she says, "You just expected him to kill someone else, some of those foreigners, that weren't there because they had any say about it, but because they had to be there, poor wretches—conscripts, or whatever they call 'em. You thought it would be all right for my George, your George, to kill the sons of those miserable mothers and the husbands of those girls that you would never see the faces of." The author further expresses his objection to the romantic idealization of considering war glorious through Mrs.Gearson when she says, "I thank my God he didn't live to do it! I thank my God they killed him first, and that he ain't livin' with their blood on his hands!""
