Quote Originally Posted by Crocodile
Quote Originally Posted by Ramil
But that would be a totally different story. This one is good as it is. And the point is quite clear... I think.
Yes, and no. So you read the story. Please explain why the sergeant was so desperate to find the partisans? Had he been just an evil "non-human", why wouldn't he just killed everyone? But, no, it seems from the story that he was using the cruelty as the means to achieve his goals. Which makes this story ambiguous, in my opinion. So, I'd say the story as-is is an excellent compassion exercise for the youth (which is great!), but the mature thinking is different.
So you find executing of old men, pregnant women and children acceptable at war? Even if they are hiding the partisans? Even if these mysterious partisans had tortured to death all poor sergeant's family this still wouldn't justify his actions here. Or do you think otherwise? Let me point out that he did pull the trigger so he wasn't merely threating to execute the woman he was actually trying to do that.