What do we discover about the human capacity for kindness and healing, and the ability to rise above the destructiveness of the crowd? Ultimately, what do you think Libby’s real motivation was in protecting Weybridge? Would you have been willing to take that risk for a stranger?
I believe Libby’s real motivation was human decency and her faith in mankind. She expects a Union wife would do the same for her husband, and holds onto the hope that “This war hasn’t turned us all into animals. At least not yet.” I’d like to think I would have had the strength to take that risk for a stranger and not succumb to fear.
I believe Libby’s motivation in the beginning was to use Weybridge as a bargaining chip in the possibility of the return of her husband. As time went on, Libby became more interested in having conversations with Weybridge that then led to having more feelings toward him. Under her circumstances, I can see how this relationship between them grew to be more.
Interesting take @Jill. I didn’t think about Libby being motivated to use Weybridge as a bargaining chip from the start. Thanks for sharing your insight.
I believe that Libby’s ulterior motive was resentment toward the confederacy. She honestly believed that her husband was not going to return from battle, and previously she was not a true believer in the southern cause of slavery and secession.
I believe that at first, Libby was simply motivated to help a dying individual but later rationalized that her care of an enemy soldier might mean that somewhere another woman may be doing the same thing for her husband. Much later, I think she began to have feelings for Weybridge. I don’t know what I would do in that same situation, especially if I was in charge of protecting others.
I’m with @Deborah_C1. I think she didn’t think it was the right thing to do to let anyone die on their own like that but using the rationale Deborah mentions to be OK with it.
I’m not sure what I’d do, either. Today, I’d most likely call the authorities if I thought someone was in dire straights. I think I might look at the fact that he was in great pain & likely to die anyway, and then go to the nearest Confederate soldier & ask him to put Weybridge out of his misery.
Libby’s motivation was the “Do unto others” thought in hopes that in a similar situation humanity towards a gravely wounded husband would be returned in kind. She and her husband tried to operate outside the ‘conventional’ loyalties and stay true to their own beliefs.
Initially I felt she was responding out of simple human decency and compassion-- she did not feel it right that he was left to die. Then, in addition, as she thought about her own situation , with her husband a captive, she saw Weybridge as a bargaining chip who could be swapped for her husband. Finally , as she developed feelings for Weybridge and became convinced her husband was dead, she fought for their escape out of love. It was a complicated progression.
I agree. Well stated.
Very well stated and most of those were my thoughts also. The only idea that I’m not sure about is using Weybridge as a bargaining chip. I felt that she soon found him to be an interesting person and perhaps some romantic interest. Her care for him seemed more personal than one would do if she saw him as an object to use.
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Libby’s motives were mixed. She was a decent woman with moral convictions, and could not turn away from a man who so desperately needed help. She fully understood the risk she was taking by bringing him back to her home and hiding him. That risk was shared by Joseph and Sally, but they were not opposed to her action.
Libby said that she would hope another woman would do the same for her husband, Peter, who had gone off to fight. And she was aware of prisoner exchanges and thought that she might be able to bring Peter home after Jonathan was well enough to be traded back to the Yankees. She didn’t plan on developing feelings for Jonathan.
I’d like to think that I would be willing to take that risk, as well, in order to aid another person who so desperately needed help! But I’ve obviously never been in that or any similar situation.
Yes, @Janie-Hickok-Siess ! This!
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it was Libby’s capacity to see people as human beings, and the tragedy of what war can do to people.
I really believe that Libby’s motivation was human decency and the hope that a Yankee woman would care for her husband in the came way if he needed it. She protected him because she knew the consequences of his being discovered in her home and in her bed - which would be certain death. I’m sure the I would do the same.
I think Libby was conflicted about the war itself. While she felt some sort of loyalty to the South, she also was a very empathetic person that could not allow Weybridge to be left to die. It was dangerous to take him in however she also thought about her husband and hoped that someone would show him the same kindess should he be in a similar situation.
I agree with the majority on this…I felt her first motivation was just to do a good things, but later felt he could be a bargaining chip for her husband, and then when she began to have feelings for him, wanted to keep him alive due to her love.