Section: Literature and Composition

17) View Additional Information

The description of Inman's situation serves to:

1. Provide a glimpse of the afterlife
2. Prove he should have fought for the North
3. Imply that he regrets ever fighting for the South
4. Suggest that he abandoned the fighting and is a deserter.
5. Assert Inman's determined spirit and foreshadow what he will do if he ever gets out of the hospital.