"A Late Encounter with the Enemy" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

Flannery O'Connor Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries. She was a Southern writer who often ...

. It was written in 1953 and published in the September 1953 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, appearing later in her short story collection ''

A Good Man Is Hard to Find ''A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories'' (published in the United Kingdom as ''The Artificial Nigger and Other Tales'') is a collection of short stories by American author Flannery O'Connor. The collection was first published in 1955. The ...

'' (1955). It is her only story dealing with the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. A devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.

Plot summary

General George Poker Sash is a 104-year-old veteran of the American Civil War who remembers very little about the War but is currently celebrated for his

longevity The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...

. He has been invited to various public celebrations where he covets the attention, particularly, from beautiful women in the crowd, and he has an inflated image of himself despite his decrepit condition. The General's 62-year-old granddaughter, Sally Poker, prays every night that he lives long enough to sit on the stage during her college

graduation Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

so that everyone can see her strong heritage and superiority. The general is wheeled onto the stage by Sally's young nephew, John Wesley, and is barely aware of the scene. Just as his granddaughter is graduating, the General experiences a revelation that he must look beyond the past. He then dies on stage as his granddaughter is graduating, although this is not immediately evident. It is unclear if Sally gets beyond her prideful

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...

about her family heritage.

Background

The story is loosely based upon a newspaper article about a Civil War veteran attending his wife's graduation that Flannery O'Connor read in the early 1950s. It is also the only O'Connor story to deal explicitly with a subject that is important to the works of many Southern writers – the Civil War.Orvell, Miles. ''Invisible Parade: The Fiction of Flannery O'Connor.'' Philadelphia, Temple UP, 1972, p. 10.

References

Short stories by Flannery O'Connor 1953 short stories Southern Gothic short stories {{1950s-story-stub