The Flag

Publication(s)

• First publication
  • Storeys from the Old Hotel

Wolfe's comments from the Introduction to Storeys from the Old Hotel

The Introduction does not discuss this story.

Summary

A very short story (500 words or so). Children play beneath the statue of a young knight who heroically snatched up the fallen banner to rally the army against the Turkish invasion. When they are adult, the country is conquered by an oppressive invader, and the boy most inspired by the old story circulates a paper of the conquerors' abuses, entitled The Flag. He is presumed to die, but other such gestures of resistance have been inspired.

Analysis

• It seems an entirely face-value story.
• The setting seems to be somewhere in the part of Eastern Europe threatened by the Turks, and the gray-uniformed soldiers Germans.
• The meaning of the last sentence, where it says they have already chosen a site where they will never put up a monument, suggests they will keep up the resistance but they have no hope of overthrowing the regime permanently. The idea of a monument is more indestructible than a real one.

Unresolved Questions

• Is the reference to a specific real-world legend?

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