Short Fiction · Chapter
Two Renegades explained
The narrator encounters his friend Barnard O'Keefe marching with Confederate Veterans in the Gate City of the South.
What happens
The narrator encounters his friend Barnard O'Keefe marching with Confederate Veterans in the Gate City of the South. O'Keefe explains that he owes his life to the Confederate States of America, which intervened four months earlier to save him from execution in Colombia. He recounts how, after being imprisoned and sentenced to death, the local doctor Doc Millikin swore him into allegiance to the Confederacy and arranged his release through bribes paid with Confederate currency.
Themes in this chapter
Humor and Irony
The irony of a Northerner swearing allegiance to the long-defunct Confederacy to save his life, and the absurdity of using Confederate currency for bribes, is central to the chapter's humor.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Doc Millikin's claim that the Confederate States still functions as a government is a deception that O'Keefe goes along with, blurring the line between reality and pretense.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator observes O'Keefe marching with Confederate Veterans and questions him about his actions.
- Barnard O'Keefe
A Northerner who marched with Confederate Veterans and recounts how the Confederate States saved his life in Colombia.
- Doc Millikin
A Confederate-sympathizing doctor in San Juan, Colombia, who swore O'Keefe into allegiance to the Confederacy and arranged his release.
Key passages
“I am assisting at the wake of the only nation on earth that ever did me a good turn.”
O'Keefe says he is attending the memorial of the only country that helped him.
O'Keefe explains his participation in the Confederate Veterans' march.
“Twelve thousand dollars was paid to the officials in bribes to let you go.”
Doc Millikin reveals that twelve thousand dollars in bribes secured O'Keefe's release.
Doc Millikin describes how the release was arranged.