English Literature

The story was set during the French-Prussian war, showing the everyday plight of the peasant affected by war. Beginning with a narrator reliving memories of the countryside, it shifts to tell the story of an old widowed French woman whose only son had been sent off to war. Mother Savage, as she was called, was a tough, serious old woman whose husband had been killed by the police. After her son left, she lived alone in her isolated snow-covered cottage until the Prussians arrived. The Prussian soldiers were distributed among the inhabitants according to their means and resources and as Mother Savage was known to be well-off, she was assigned four soldiers. She got along well with the soldiers who were jolly and good-natured and helped her with the household jobs, as if they were her own attentive sons. This though, did not deter her from worrying about her own son and asking about him. One day, a letter arrived telling her of the death her son from being halved by a cannonball. With grief, this imagery so remained with her that although she greeted the soldiers as if nothing happened, she proceeded to act strangely the rest of the day. Upset, she didnt eat a mouthful of food but instead asked the soldiers to write their names and the addresses of their families on a piece of paper she stowed beside the letter about son. Later she, with their help, filled the loft they slept in with straw, telling them that it would keep them warmer. Then as the soldiers slept, she trapped them in the loft and set the house on fire. She watched as the house burned and the soldiers screamed to their deaths, holding her sons gun in case one escaped. When it was over she threw the gun into flame and a shot ran out which made people run up to see what happened. When an officer asked what became of the soldiers, though they thought her mad she calmly tells them the entire story, starting with the letter which she produced. At the end, she hands over the paper with the addresses of the dead soldiers families and their names saying that when they write to tell the families of their sons deaths, to tell them that it was she who did it.

The story began with a narrator reliving memories of the countryside, when an old cottage shifts it to tell the story of an old widowed French woman whose only son had been sent to war against the Prussians. Mother Savage, as she was called, was a tough, stern old woman whose husband had been killed by the police. After her son left, she lived alone in her isolated snow-covered cottage until one day Prussian soldiers were distributed among the villagers according to their means and as Mother Savage was known to be well-off, she was assigned four soldiers. She got along well with the four who were jolly and helped her with the household jobs, as if they were her sons. She meanwhile, worried about her own son, asking about him often. One day, a letter arrived telling her of her sons death, halved by a cannonball. This image remained with her but her cried briefly as she greeted the soldiers as if nothing happened. Later she didnt eat but instead asked them to write their names and their families addresses on a piece of paper she stowed beside first letter. She then, with their help, filled the loft they slept in with straw, saying that it would keep them warm. Then as the soldiers slept, she trapped them in the loft and set the house on fire. She watched as the house burned, listened as the soldiers screamed, holding her sons gun in case one escaped. Afterwards she threw the gun into flame and a shot ran out which made people run up to the cottage. When asked what became of the soldiers, she calmly told them the story in detail, starting with the letter which she produced. At the end, she hands over the paper she had the now-dead soldiers write on earlier, saying that when they write to tell the families of their sons deaths, to tell them that it was she who did it.

In the time of the French-Prussian war, Mother Savage was a tough old French widow who lived alone in an isolated cottage as her only son was sent off to war. Four Prussian soldiers were assigned to her during the occupancy and these treated her well. She, though fond of her charges, kept worrying about her own son. One day, a letter arrived and it said that her son had died, halved by a cannonball. Though grieved and upset by the imagery, she acted calmly around the soldiers. Later she asked them to write their names and the addresses of their families on a piece of paper tucked this beside the letter about her son. She then filled their sleeping place with straw and after they were asleep, trapped them and set the house ablaze. She stood outside, watching, holding her sons gun in case one escaped. Afterwards she threw the gun into flame and a shot ran out which made people run up to the cottage. When questioned, she calmly told them the story in detail, starting at the arrival of the letter. At the end, she handed over the paper the now-dead soldiers wrote on, saying that when they write to tell the families of the deaths of their sons, to tell them that it was she who did it.