Perspectives

Literary perspective

The short story “Field of Tears” by Declan J Connaughton belongs to the military fiction genre. Generally, war fiction deals with events that have either taken place on a battlefield or in a civilian setting, where characters either fight or deal with the effects of war. In “Field of Tears”, part of the events take place next to the field where De Burca first killed a man when he was eighteen, fighting in the Irish Civil War. Even after over eight decades, De Burca deals with the guilt and grief of that event, which has affected his entire life.

War fiction also presents the reality of war, primarily as experienced by soldiers. The genre offers a harsh portrait of war, often with explicit descriptions of its horrors. For example, De Burca recalls being young and not fully aware of the implications of war, wishing to escape the mission of killing a fellow Irishman. He also remembers O’Leary telling him that such things are common in the war and that soldiers die, one way or another. Lastly, he recalls the bloody corpse of the man he has killed, as well as rain washing up the blood. 

Historical perspective

The short story “Field of Tears” presents real historical events that took pla...