In the Midst of Life · Character
Lieutenant Price
A dark-faced young officer who dares to question a battery commander's orders mid-battle, then testifies with a candor that quietly destroys another man's world.
supporting
First appearance: one officer one man
As a supporting figure in In the Midst of Life, Lieutenant Price is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.
An officer of Ransome's battery who overhears the exchange and confirms the general's meaning before moving to his post.
Price belongs to that unlucky class of subordinate whose conscience outruns his rank: during the engagement he recognized the battery was firing on its own people and urged the commander to cease, only to be insulted and sent back to his post. Summoned before the general, he answers precisely and without malice, refusing to soften what he saw or to claim knowledge of orders he never received. His plain testimony turns a comrade's honor into a matter of life and death, making him the quiet hinge on which the story's moral catastrophe swings.
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Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
In this excerpt, the narrator’s emotional and psychological peak occurs as she confesses her intense, almost i…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingIn the story
Lieutenant Price appears across 3 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.
- Of the Uses of Civility
- V: How Sounds Can Fight Shadows
- Why, Being Affronted by A, It Is Not Best to Affront B
Chapter companion notes
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See Lieutenant Price in one officer one man