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Chapter 1
In chapter one Thomas speaks about how the hill he is fighting on was once a place where he and his brother went to play and now it is in ruin from the battle. In this photo half of it is divided into a clean beautiful town and the other half a burning town, separated by a man carrying the American flag. It shows the contrast from before and after the war and also the divide in America. -
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Poem 2
"Hunting for the Last Time"
http://www.bitsofblueandgray.com/WmTaylorPoems4.htm -
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Poem 1
"Between Dream and Awake"
http://www.bitsofblueandgray.com/WmTaylorPoems3.htm -
Chapter 2
In this photo people seem to be walking through the rain and the sky is very dark and the people look like shadows on a mountain. I thought this related to chapter two because Laura is describing how she feels like a shadow in the darkness and that the sky in “hueless”. -
Chapter 3
This photo shows Richmond after being attacked and it in ruins. I thought this well represented the chapter because the main idea is how are the men supposed to go back to their if they survive this war. Their lives will never be the same, some of their homes won’t even be there. “After the bloodshed and futility of the first year I asked myself how we could have wanted this…so many dead and maimed…all the destruction,” (15). -
Chapter 4
This photo shows the dead being buried after a battle. In chapter 4 the people of Laura’s town anxiously wait for the newspapers to bring any news as to who died in the battles. Laura also visits the grave of her daughter. I thought that because there was a lot of references to death and the open possibility of death that soldiers about the be buried would be a good symbolic picture for this chapter. -
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Chapter 4
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Chapter 5
This is a photo of a dead federal soldier buried and a dead confederate soldier unburied. Even though one is buried and the other is not, they are still both dead and lying beside each other. This photo was a good representation of chapter 5 because Thomas had told the story of how he got to know one of the confederate soldiers one time named Sam. Then eventually he and his troop had to fire upon the confederate troop and he found Sam dead after the battle. He blamed himself for killing him and -
Chapter 6
This photo is a group of dead union soldiers after the battle of Gettysburg. In this chapter Thomas and his other friends in his troop go through a severe battle where he witnesses his captain, Caldwell, get killed brutally in battle. Thomas wakes up to see hundreds of dead and injured soldiers. That is why I thought this photo of union soldiers dead after a battle would be a good depiction for this chapter, as it resembles something of what Thomas might have seen when he became conscious. -
Chapter 7
In this chapter we learn that news of the dead, injured and missing comes to Laura’s town by way of telegraph or newspapers. This is a picture of a post office, which I thought most represented this chapter. Laura, along with all the other townspeople anxiously await for the news even though they are afraid of what it may bring to them. -
Chapter 8
This was the closest photo I could find resembling soldiers eating food. A very important part happens in this chapter, which I think made Thomas who he was in the camp. A woman gave bread to Ned because she believed in him. “You are all too young for this. There will be a time when you must rebuild after this is over and you must live to do it. Please take this bread. It is all I have,” (54). This woman believed in them to live and that is what gave them, especially Thomas, the strength the bel -
Chapter 9
In Chapter 9 Thomas arrives at the prison camp for the first time. This is where the story changes, from being about war battles and Laura waiting to hear how he is to being about the prison camp and the casualties he must face while in it. “These walls now marked the boundaries of their lives…The opening in the warehouse roof exposed most of the area inside the walls to the weather. The ground beneath was saturated, standing water or mud everywhere. The smell was a combination of sewage, illnes -
Chapter 10
Laura learns that her husband is alive but Elsa Haas learns that her husband has died. This fact destroys her life and she must now figure out what she is to do. This photo of a house being burned down is what sort of happened to Elsa. She did not lose her home but she lost her husband, which made her home meaningful to her. She now has a void in her life that she must learn to fill. “She slowly backed into her house, her eyes fixed on Williams, as though pleading with him to stop, to smile, may -
Chapter 11
In this chapter Thomas has been at the camp for a few weeks and has already begun to change. He witnesses death and illness in many people and the psychological effect of the camp begins to take its toll on Thomas. This photo is of a prison camp and I thought it demonstrated what Thomas now was, because he has moved from being a soldier to being a prisoner. “Only a few weeks ago they were soldiers. Now they were no better than convicts who’d been charged with unnamed crimes and never tried,” (77 -
Chapter 12
In Chapter 12 Thomas is very angered when he finds out that there is a group of men in the prison that steal other people’s stuff. He describes his anger as a cannon, which is why I first thought to find a picture of a cannon. But throughout the rest of the chapter you see how his anger takes it’s toll on the other prisoners, getting people involved in the beating and hanging of these men that stole from him and others. A cannon is a good representation of how all it takes is for one person to s -
Chapter 13
I chose a map of the United States because in this chapter Laura finally decides that she must fetch Thomas from the prison. The map represents her travels and what is about to come in the following chapters in the book. “’Laura, there is no route. This map shows only railroads and rivers. How do you know where to go?’….’I’ve made up my mind and it cannot be changed,’” (98). -
Chapter 14
Rains bring severe flooding to the prison in this chapter and prisoners are drowning in the water and being carried out to the river by the camp. This river becomes a major part of the book later on. This picture is of a river and I thought it symbolized how the river first appears in the novel as something that takes away the lives of the soldier prisoners of the camp. -
Chapter 15
Colonel Jones speaks to Thomas and begins to mention a soldier’s honor. Thomas breaks down over the fact that he killed another soldier and Jones goes on to test Thomas’ honor with an opportunity to switch sides. This is the first time you see how Colonel Jones treasures his honor. You can tell how he obviously would never voluntarily keep Thomas in this prison camp but he is so dedicated to his duty as a colonel that he would never think of letting him go. This first mention of honor is a key f -
Chapter 16
This picture of a wharf is a symbol of the beginning of Laura’s journey. Once she reaches the Ohio River she will be out of Indiana and will truly be on her journey and out of her home. She begins to meet new people right away on her journey in this chapter. The river she must cross is almost symbolic of a line that she must cross and once she crosses it she can no longer look back and doubt herself, she has to brave through her journey until she reaches her goal. Once she crosses the river she -
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Chapter 16
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Chapter 17
Laura had to kill one of her horses, Max, in this chapter after he got stuck in the thick mud and his leg became to twisted he would not be able to walk again. This was the first death that Laura encountered on her journey and it is obvious that it really shook her emotionally, especially because she had to kill him. This picture of a horse represents Max from the book. -
Chapter 18
This picture represents the sort of ominous and mysterious character of Bowers. One of Laura’s traveling companions for part of the trip, he shows up while she is practicing to shoot a gun. He is described as, “The horse was small and boney and most of his mane was worn away. He stood with his head down, tired and indifferent to everything around him,” (134). This picture, because it is old and is taken from far away blurs the man in the photo and makes him seem unrecognizable which Bowers’ char -
Chapter 19
This illustration is of two peddlers that I chose to represent the two peddlers from chapter 19. After Laura finds Bowers’ dead body she tries to take his body to find a good place to bury him, but she doesn’t stop to think where the peddlers might be when she rests for the night and they come to attack her. These two peddlers are the only people she kills in her journey and they represent how she had to overcome her fear and force herself to shoot the pistol correctly. -
Chapter 20
The flowers in this drawing are related to the flower that Laura described as the blood coming out of the peddler man’s chest that she shot. Laura continuously mentions how she keeps on seeing this flower come out of his chest and it is an important symbol in the book for her character. “The terror stirred again and became a fact that unfolded itself in the dark above her head. It opened before her like a black and sinister flower…In the dark space above her the black flower turned into the woun -
Chapter 21
This chapter is focused a lot on death. In the beginning of the chapter Thomas finds out that there will be no more prisoner exchanges and he comes to realize that he will probably die in this prison. A lot more people die in the camp and Thomas has to bury them and he writes their name down on a list he has been keeping of all the people that have died. This picture of the graves relate to the graves where Thomas had to bury all the prisoners in his camp and the deaths that he has seen in his l -
Chapter 22
As Laura continues to make her way on her journey she comes across a town that had been completely destroyed from the war. “As she made her way across the valley the damage became more extensive until it was clear that the wreckage included everything. Blackened chimneys pointed to the sky…barns had been burned and only a few of the barns had any part of them left standing. There were no signs of people or livestock and she even thought there were fewer birds,” (166). This picture of a house in -
Chapter 23
Laura comes across another valley where a battle had most recently just taken place. The army that was there was confederate and they were scrambling trying to help all the injured soldiers. Laura was asked to help them and she agreed but she didn’t expect to see so many traumas. She focused a lot of her attention on the men in the valley that had been marked for mortal. This photo of soldiers lying dead is the sort of image that Laura probably faced when she came across this army. -
Chapter 24
This picture is of wounded soldiers after a battle trying to get treated. This chapter focused a lot on Laura dealing with all of the wounded soldiers and how she wanted to help the ones that were marked mortal first instead of the soldiers that were better off. She became attached to one soldier, Danny, and she felt it was her job to try to keep him alive even though it would be nearly impossible for him to survive his wounds. This picture showing so many wounded soldiers represents what Laura -
Chapter 25
This is a picture of a surgeon with someone who is injured and I thought it represented the surgeon that Laura met of the confederate army. Laura helps the surgeon amputate the leg of a soldier in this chapter. Doing this was very difficult for Laura and she becomes confused and disturbed by everything that is going on around her. “I’ve never seen anything like this before and it’s all so overwhelming. I think I understand now,” (195). Laura’s relationship with the surgeon is really developed in -
Chapter 26
This is a picture of people moving wounded soldiers, which represents very well what happened in this chapter, which is how they moved wounded soldiers on a wagon. “Major Brookings had been right. Moving the wounded men was like beginning the horror all over again,” (199). Laura thought that once they were ready to move the wounded that all the gore and deaths would be over but she was far from right, many more people died or became even more wounded after going on the wagon because of it’s bump -
Chapter 27
The general in this picture represents Major Brookings from this chapter. I thought this would be a good picture to represent chapter 27 because Major Brookings is a big part of this chapter. Laura and him are having a conversation and even though they are from different sides of the war they both suffer of the casualties from it. “’Do you ever stop thinking about the casualties?’ There was a quick flash of anger in his eyes. He took a long time to answer and when he did all he said was, ‘No,’” -
Chapter 28
This picture of a dead soldier represents all the death that Laura is trying to grapple with in this chapter. Every person that Laura meets on her journey as been impacted by the war and experienced the death of a loved one in some way. Even the people that seem most unaffected by it on their exterior are still affected by it, such as Major Brookings. “What would be the end to it? When the war was over and they all had to face the silence, would any of them be able to do that? … Then, in a momen -
Chapter 29
Thomas begins to think about escaping the prison because the idea of dying in the prison without ever trying to escape is unappealing to him. He asks Cole about escaping and they decide that they will try to disappear down the river and out of the prison. This picture is supposed to represent the river by Camp Cahawba. -
Chapter 30
When Laura reaches a fork in the road she takes the wrong turn and heads into a forest that dead ends into a house. While on her wagon she begins to feel sick again, the effects of her journey finally taking their tolls on her as she faints. This picture of a road is supposed to be representative of the long road in which Laura has been traveling and must continue to take in order to reach Thomas. The timing between chapter 29 and 30 is very key, because in chapter 29 Thomas is beginning to thin -
Chapter 31
In this chapter the emancipation proclamation has just been released, freeing all slaves and for the first time in the book we meet some ex-slaves themselves as they are trying to grapple with this new idea of freedom. They aren’t used to being able to make decisions for themselves and are conflicted over whether or not they are truly free. We meet three slaves, Rachel, John and Mary. They are traveling towards the Union side of the country, hoping that they may be more sympathetic to them than -
Chapter 32
An eagle represents our nation because we are supposed to be a nation of freedom for anyone and everyone in our country. In chapter 32 Rachel asks Laura what it is like to be free, and she doesn’t know how to respond because she has never felt the shackles of slavery and therefore cannot compare it to anything. “’What it like to be free Miz Laura?’ The words struck Laura like a blow to the heart. She hesitated, squirmed, knew she had to tell the truth, then she whispered, ‘I don’t know. I don’t -
Chapter 33
In this drawing there are troops with bloodhounds, which reminded me of this chapter because as Thomas is escaping down the river out of camp Cahawba he and his other friends that are also trying to escape, Ty and Ned, keep hearing the bloodhounds of the prison guards that are chasing them. “The howls of the bloodhounds carried on the wind. Ty heard it first. He sat up, unsure that he’d heard anything at all…When he heard the sound again he shook Thomas awake. ‘Tom, I think they’re after us.’…Th -
Chapter 34
In the back of this photo there is a US flag flying and the overall scene reminded me of the Union camp that Laura, Rachel, Mary and John went to. Lincoln may have freed the slaves but the Union continued to terrorize towns. “’This is my marster’s plantation but he gone now…the Unions run him off and took this place.’ ‘So you free now…all of you?’ The man nodded. ‘Guess so. Don’t have no more marster.’ ‘ Do these Unions treat you right?’ ‘Some do and some don’t…you’ve got to be careful with them -
Chapter 35
Even though this is a photo of a dead confederate soldier it reminded me not only of Thomas in this chapter but of the young confederate boy who shot Thomas. In this chapter I saw a link from the confederate that Thomas shot to the confederate that shot Thomas. Thomas looked into the young eyes of the boy that he shot and was filled with agonizing guilt over it, and when Thomas was shot by the young confederate he looked into his eyes as well and felt sympathy for him. “At the moment their eyes -
Chapter 36
Thomas is caught in this chapter after being shot and he realizes that he will not make it out of the prison alive. I chose this picture of a rainy scene because in this chapter Rothstein uses the rainy weather to show another shift in the book. The weather turns rainy once Thomas is captured to show that the events of the book are not turning out well, it sets the mood for what is about to come. “Thomas stared at the floor. Rainwater dipped from the strands of hair that hung over his forehead…T -
Chapter 37
This picture of a general’s office reminded me of Colonel Jones’ office. I imagined his more worn down but it is still much nicer than anything in the prison. Laura finally arrives in the town of Cahawba and she goes and waits for the Colonel to come into his office to talk out him about releasing Thomas. In the next few chapters this office becomes important for Laura because she goes there everyday to try to convince the colonel to release her husband. This office is first introduced in this c -
Chapter 38
In this chapter Laura and Colonel Jones don’t argue but they debate with each other over whether or not it is right for the Colonel to release Laura’s husband from the prison. Colonel Jones made a lot of interesting points about how the Union isn’t as good as Laura probably thinks it is, he goes on to prove that neither side is the good guy but both are really criminals. “ ‘Colonel do you think that I condone what these people have done?’ ‘No. I’m sure you don’t. But your government does. In fac -
Chapter 39
This picture of a lone grave reminded me of the grave that Laura found of a young girl that had been buried. After Laura’s discussion with Colonel Jones I think she finally began to realize that just because she had lived on the Union side of the country that should not make her automatically hate everyone on the Confederate side. Both sides are being deeply affected by the war and most of these people are actually innocent. “I might not have a high regard for Colonel Jones, but that’s one thing -
Chapter 40
Colonel Jones leaves somewhere unknown but leaves behind a Statement of Parole for Thomas, Ty and Ned. I thought this picture of a letter with an eagle carrying the American flag well represented what Laura probably saw the statement of parole as. It was a letter of freedom for her husband and close friends, with it she realizes that she was right in not doubting her entire journey. “She opened the envelope, took out the parole, read it, and the words become a benediction," (309). -
Chapter 41
“ ‘Is he dead, ma’am?’ Noah had whispered the question... ‘Yes, he’s gone.’ ‘Did I kilt him?’ Laura drew Noah to her…’No. You didn’t kill him. The war killed him, and the war is over now,” (319). With Thomas’ death Laura comes to learn that any casualty of the war is significant. This photo of a cannon shooting by an American flag represents the chapter because there is no one shooting this cannon, but the American flag represents how the war killed Thomas.
