The Forest Symbol Analysis

The forest that looms on the outer edge of the battlefield symbolizes the insignificance and frailty of human beings compared to the vastness and power of nature. The forest’s role in the story unfolds in three stages. First, it hides fundamental truths about the world. When a bullet strikes the lieutenant’s arm, it’s clear the enemy is hiding in the distant wood. The men scan the forest for any sign of the enemy but find only “little puffs of white smoke” (evidence of gunfire). This is the first clue that the wood, “which veiled [the lieutenant’s] problems”—and nature more broadly—hides important truths from people. Second, because Crane never shows readers the enemy forces, the wood begins to feel like an aggressor in its own right. Crane calls it “the hostile wood” and shows men glancing nervously at it over their shoulders. This vague fear immediately positions people as something weak in the presence of nature. Third, Crane contrasts the permanence of the forest with the protagonist’s moments of inadequacy: the lieutenant repeatedly looks at the wood as he fumbles “awkwardly” with his sword, feeling “puzzled” and “helpless” as nature stands immovable in the distance. By reminding the lieutenant of nature in these moments, Crane sets up a sharp contrast between human smallness and nature’s infiniteness. In these three roles—as a barrier to the world’s truths, as a seemingly hostile force, and as a reminder of human insignificance—the forest helps solidify Crane’s argument that humans and their struggles are tiny in the grand scheme of things.