The initial incident, then, of the complete story is the meeting of father and son.
Brief steps in action.—The two pay their respects to Framberg’s remains, at City Hall. This becomes the motivation for the story Thorold tells his son and for his giving up the appointment. (See final paragraph.)
Plot of Inner Story.
Initial Incidents: Thorold had taken “bounty money,” which was offered to any one who joined the Nineteenth Regiment at a specified time.
Dramatic Climax: “I slipped past the lines.”... “I was a bounty-jumper.”
Climax of Action: Thorold’s promise to God and to Lincoln that he would atone for the faith he had broken.
Dénouement (of enveloping action as aided by inner narrative):
Thorold relinquishes the Forsland Embassy. This act, joined to the confession, forms the expiation. In one sense, the whole rehearsed story may be said to constitute the dénouement of Thorold’s life-long struggle.
Characterization. Thorold is the chief figure, emphasized from beginning to end by the author’s comment, by his own recollections, by his son’s remarks to him, and by his own confession. The struggle is Thorold’s. What aspects has it?
The second figure is Framberg—dead. He is the cause of the immediate phase of the long struggle, the climactic phase. He is the contrasting element, the heroic young man, even an alien by birth, who was nevertheless a better American than Thorold. (Notice the information given, page 262, about his foreign birth.) Through whom does the reader get most of the information about Isador?