11. Comment upon the author’s artistic close.
ROSITA
ELLEN MACKUBIN was, several years ago, a frequent contributor to the Atlantic. Nearly all her stories are tinged with the military spirit with which she was thoroughly familiar.
The cause of the deed is never revealed to the garrison; its consequences can only be surmised. Indeed the true standing of the affair as tragedy is only guessed. The instigator of the quarrel between Major Prior and Jerry Breton, the perpetrator, and the victim of the tragedy unite in the person of one christianized just enough to suffer for the savage instincts she had never learned to control. We see her just once, Rosita, the beautiful, the impulsive, the passionate; the next time she is dead. It is the feeling of repressed power that makes Ellen Mackubin’s story grip the attention. In a few short pages, three—possibly four—characters are made to live, and a tragedy wrecks two lives.
Suggested Points for Study and Comment
1. Discuss which of the common elements of story—setting, plot, character, theme, or style—is here most prominent.
2. Discuss the way in which the separate characters are introduced and the complication arranged.
3. How can Jerry’s treatment of the commanding officer on the day of the dress parade be condoned?
4. How does the reader feel regarding Rosita’s vague declaration that she will rid Jerry of Prior’s unfairness?