Across Five Aprils - Itasca Middle School

Summary and Analysis 31
wonder when that amendment will change their lives for the better and are able to get jobs
or be equal to others.
Finally, in April, news comes that the war is over and that two men signed for peace
at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Citizens over the north celebrated, drinking
toasts, singing and crying in joy. Milton takes Jethro back to the same restaurant they visited
years before. Jethro says he wants to shake Abraham Lincoln’s hand. The Creightons are
still celebrating, anticipating the arrival home of their sons, brothers, father, and friend when
they receive the news that the president has been killed.
Jethro goes on with his daily business, but "there was no longer any beauty in the world
about him or any serenity in his heart." Jethro never quite comes to peace with Lincoln’s
death and spends much time thinking and grieving. One day, he is lying on his back
contemplating the tragedy when Shadrach Yale comes up to him. Shadrach says that Jenny
is home too and that they wanted to surprise him. Shadrach tells him that he will help Jethro
in the fields until John comes home, and then Jethro will move in with Shadrach and Jenny,
to study. Jethro says that the family depends on him, but Shadrach says that his parents
want what is best for him and that others can work the fields. Jethro runs up to the house to
reunite with his sister.
Analysis
The final chapter in the book is surprisingly downcast, despite the Union victory and despite
the return of family members Jethro and the rest of the Creightons have missed for years.
Hunt demonstrates that even the "right" outcome in a war is still, in a sense, wrong—she
echoes previous sentiments that there was no right option in the situation. The way the
North acts toward the conclusion of the war is reprehensible. They do not act like patriots
or soldiers, but rather like undisciplined boys indulging their anger. The whole point of the
war was to fight for the Union and fight to end slavery, not simply to fight for the sake of
it. The Union’s sacking of the South, and ruining of many lands and homes did not further
the cause of the North. Instead, it was a show of cruelty and strength and happened simply
because the North could do it.
Milton wisely tells Jethro that peace will not be perfect, and it is not. The world has
changed, and even though the war is over, everyone bears the scars. Life does not—indeed,
it cannot—return to the way it was before the war. Many men are dead, many animosities
have only intensified, and many people including Jethro have aged much too quickly during
the years of war. Milton’s statement is also prophetic, as President Lincoln is assassinated
very shortly after the war ends. For Jethro, this is the final blow. Throughout the war,
the only person Jethro had real faith in was the president. The Generals came and went,
the soldiers fought and deserted, and the citizens of the country quarreled. The president
was the only unfaltering presence, and Jethro felt a particular kinship with him after they
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