Afterword

Afterword

This book is about the gritty, devastating¹ effects of war — in this case, the often- dissected²

American Civil War—but isn’t about officers, battle statistics, or strategies. It’s about young

Confederate soldiers without rank, infantrymen on foot for as many as a thousand miles a year

carrying out war’s grimmest chores, sometimes for a cause they didn’t support. The story places

its protagonist³, Tom Smiley, on the Southern side because that’s where conditions were

harshest, the cause hardest to justify⁴, and the site where most of the killing⁵ happened.

I was barely an adult during the Vietnam War, when many American soldiers were injured

and killed for a cause with little connection to their lives. I wondered if the same was true for

Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. I suspect most of the Southern combatants were

racists, but only one in four families in the South owned enslaved people and had anything to

lose if the institution was abolished.

Wars are often instigated⁷ by a proportionately small number of people whose wealth makes

them politically and socially powerful, some of whom become military officers. Most white

Southern wealth at that time was related either directly or indirectly⁸ to owning and selling Black

humans. This white group was hell-bent on retaining a barbaric institution to enrich themselves

and avoid daily labor⁹. And ordinary citizens were the majority of those who paid the terrible

price of death, injury, PTSD, and destruction of property. Men like Tom quickly became cogs in

a vast military machine. The Confederacy established a draft in April 1862, ten months after the

first battle, and consequences of avoiding enlistment¹⁰ or deserting were beatings, imprisonment¹¹,

or death. Just as in the South, many folks in the North didn’t believe in equality, but their Black

and white leaders correctly convinced them slavery must be abolished.

Slavery began in the colony of Virginia, and by the time of the Civil War, the state rivaled

South Carolina and Louisiana for sales of enslaved people. Auctions¹² were held in Richmond and

in smaller towns along primary transportation routes leading into the deep South where larger,

even more brutal¹³ cotton and sugar plantations¹⁴ existed. By the time of the war, selling humans

south into killing labor was more lucrative¹⁵ than any crop a Virginia landowner could raise.

There was a steady current of enslaved people through Virginia to plantations in Louisiana and

Mississippi.

In Augusta County in southwestern Virginia, the setting of this book, farmers weren’t

necessarily more humane¹⁶ than those in the rest of the state, but their crops of wheat and rye

required much less field work. Farms were smaller than those growing tobacco and cotton, and

they most often required only family members and hired hands as laborers¹⁷. One in five Augusta

families owned other people, but a third of those owned no more than one person. Often,

enslaved people were rented out to wait on hotel and tavern¹⁸ tables, tend stables and animals,

erect¹⁹ telegraph poles, work in breweries²⁰, lay rail lines, and provide domestic labor. Across the

South on the eve of the Civil War, when an annual salary for an upper middle-class white man

might be $500, a healthy, young, enslaved Black man sold for as much as $1,500. Today, that

individual person’s purchase price would be approximately $100,000 or more. By the time of

Emancipation²¹ in 1863, the combined value of all the South’s slaves, adjusted to today’s prices

using the relative share of GDP, was close to thirteen trillion dollars and, even as early as 1805,

never fell below six trillion dollars. This is what Confederate leaders knew, and why they

wanted to secede²². They wanted to protect their wealth, built on the backs of enslaved people,

even if it meant bloodshed.

Virginia was a border state during the war, and the southwestern region was strongly

populated by Scotch-Irish people who had migrated from Pennsylvania. Many of them had

strong connections with family members and friends in the North and shared anti-slavery views.

Again, this isn’t to say they weren’t racist⁶. The reasons men from this region volunteered and

then stayed as enlistees in the early part of the Civil War differed across social classes. After the

draft was created, wealthy young men hired substitutes. Upper- class white people told

themselves and others that the reason for fighting was to preserve states’ rights, disguising the

fact that less fortunate people were dying to defend a privileged way of life made possible by

enslaving Blacks. As Northern troops marched into the South, purpose for the ordinary,

powerless Confederate soldier had to become survival and defense²³ of a homeland. I asked

myself while researching material for this book why those opposing slavery didn’t leave the

South as war was brewing²⁴. An admirable few had that courage, including Presbyterian minister

Dr. George Junkin, the real person Reverend McIntyre is based on, but most couldn’t give up

the security of family, friends, and land from which they earned a living. And some even

believed that enslaving Black people was encouraged by the Bible.

Tom Smiley, Civil War veteran and ghost narrator of The Last of What I Am, is tormented²⁵ by

war memories and is trapped by them in an increasingly personal hell. But he’s also a stand-in

for this nation, one unsettled by a history rife²⁶ with injustices²⁷ and motives²⁸ many of us still can’t

face, not even generations later. Until we embrace that history and its long shadows, the nation

won’t be able to fully²⁹ rectify³⁰ those injustices and heal. This novel is a cautionary tale about what

happens when a country is divided against itself.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 dissected   

adj.切开的，分割的，（叶子）多裂的v.解剖（动物等）( dissect的过去式和过去分词 )；仔细分析或研究

参考例句：

• Her latest novel was dissected by the critics. 评论家对她最近出版的一部小说作了详细剖析。
• He dissected the plan afterward to learn why it had failed. 他事后仔细剖析那项计划以便搞清它失败的原因。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

4 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

7 instigated   

v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government has instigated a programme of economic reform. 政府已实施了经济改革方案。
• He instigated the revolt. 他策动了这次叛乱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 enlistment   

n.应征入伍，获得，取得

参考例句：

• Illness as a disqualification for enlistment in the army. 疾病是取消参军入伍资格的一个原因。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One obstacle to the enlistment of able professors was that they had to take holy orders. 征聘有才能的教授的障碍是他们必须成为牧师。 来自辞典例句

11 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

12 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

13 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

14 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

15 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

16 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

17 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

18 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

19 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

20 breweries   

酿造厂，啤酒厂( brewery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In some cases, this is desirable, but most breweries prefer lighter-type beers. 在一些情况下，这是很理想的，但是大多数啤酒厂更倾向于生产酒度较低的啤酒。
• Currently, there are 58 breweries producing Snow Beeracross the country. 目前，全国共有58个雪花啤酒厂。

21 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 secede   

v.退出，脱离

参考例句：

• They plotted to make the whole Mississippi Valley secede from the United States.他们阴谋策划使整个密西西比流域脱离美国。
• We won't allow Tibet to secede from China and become an independent nation.我们决不允许西藏脱离中国独立。

23 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

24 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

25 tormented   

饱受折磨的

参考例句：

• The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
• He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠，深受嫉妒的折磨。

26 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

27 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

28 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

29 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

30 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。