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to this, and a woman tells them that her son, who had deployed at the start of war, came home injured two times only to be sent back. Another woman tells them that both of her sons are fighting. They then debate on whether having your only son sent to war is better or worse than having two of you sons sent off. With the husband saying that if one of your sons dies, you still have the other one. But another passenger argues that having a remaining son means that the father would have to continue living through his grief and suffering. They are then interrupted by another passenger, described by
Pirandello as fat and red-faced, who calls the conversation "nonsense", saying that their children belong to their country and do not exist for their own sake. He explains that his son has already died in the war, but that his son had sent a message to him saying that in his last moments he was satisfied to have died defending his country, and because of this he does not mourn his death. These silences the other passengers, who seem to be moved by his speech and all agree with his sentiment. The grieving mother too is moved by this and starts to think of how selfish her grieving is. But soon after, she becomes unfazed by his argument and asks him a seemingly silly question, "Then, is your son really dead?". The story ends with the fat man through those words coming to the realization that his son was really dead, as he begins to weep uncontrollably to the shock of the other passengers.
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to visit their only son, who had previously left for deployment in the First World War. The wife is inconsolable in grief and begins to weep, upon this the other passengers ask the husband what is wrong, to which he tells them that their only son had just been deployed. Many of the passengers relate
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about how they deal with grief. The story covers topics of patriotism, grief, and the destructive nature of war. It is regarded by some as one of the greatest short stories of the
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of the story has since become a frequently taught piece of literature in the United States, Canada, and
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Texts and their Worlds II—European and Non-European
Writing: An Introduction
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in 1918. The story follows a discussion between parents of soldiers in the
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The plot starts with a mother and father stepping onto a train to leave
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Osborne, Jennifer; Ahearn, Sally; Safier, Fannie; Baci, Laura (1996).
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415:. Toronto: HBJ Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 27–31.
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Title page of the first publication of the story in the
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292:"War (Quando Si Comprende) By Luigi Pirandello, 1919"
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551:. New Delhi, India: Foundation Books. p. 33.
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172:first published in the short story collection
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485:Constantakis, Sara (2011). "Introduction".
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487:A Study Guide for Luigi Pirandello's "War"
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409:Kirkland, Glen; Davies, Richard (1993).
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640:Six Characters in Search of an Author
516:"Analysis of War by Luigi Pirandello"
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715:One, No One and One Hundred Thousand
656:The Man with the Flower in His Mouth
370:Great modern European short stories
412:Inside stories for senior students
265:"1918 – War (Quando si comprende)"
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446:Impact: fifty short short stories
16:Short story by Luigi Pirandello
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342:""War" by Luigi Pirandello"
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791:Short stories set in Italy
455:Holt, Rinehart and Winston
226:Pirandello, Luigi (1918).
781:Works by Luigi Pirandello
523:damascusuniversity.edu.sy
317:"War by Luigi Pirandello"
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547:Chandran, K. Narayana.
367:Angus, Douglas (1967).
707:The Late Mattia Pascal
33:short story collection
786:Italian short stories
632:The Rules of the Game
381:. pp. XII–XIII.
229:Un cavallo nella luna
174:Un Cavallo nella Luna
36:Un Cavallo nella Luna
672:Tonight We Improvise
379:Fawcett Publications
664:Each In His Own Way
624:Così è (se vi pare)
527:Damascus University
449:(Second ed.).
348:. 29 September 2023
194:English translation
166:Quando si comprende
57:Quando si comprende
53:Original title
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776:1918 short stories
457:. pp. 70–76.
271:. 26 December 2019
240:. pp. 141–150
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756:(2022 film)
753:Strangeness
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133:Short story
87:Set in
770:Categories
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422:0774714085
388:0449912221
213:References
152:1245545469
74:War, grief
691:L'Esclusa
599:Works by
375:Greenwich
102:Publisher
699:The Turn
648:Henry IV
190:The Wall
92:Fabriano
63:Language
491:Cengage
96:Sulmona
71:Subject
66:Italian
737:(1918)
718:(1926)
710:(1904)
702:(1902)
694:(1901)
683:Novels
675:(1930)
667:(1924)
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635:(1918)
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619:(1916)
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301:17 May
275:17 May
244:17 May
192:. The
43:Author
616:Liolà
608:Plays
519:(PDF)
234:Milan
138:Pages
125:Italy
82:Drama
79:Genre
553:ISBN
534:2024
495:ISBN
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459:ISBN
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417:ISBN
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383:ISBN
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206:Rome
200:Plot
147:ISBN
117:1918
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
