Sergeant Garrel

Sergeant Garrel is the officer who is initially responsible for the soldier in the last hour before the soldier's execution. Garrel is referred to simply as "The Sergeant" in the printed play and is not named until the very end. Throughout the first scene, Garrel talks with the soldier about his desertion and about the factors that have caused the soldier to try to run away. Garrel has mixed feelings about the soldier. At several points in their conversation, Garrel tries to be tough. He is a company man and believes in doing what the army tells him to. He criticizes the soldier's weak behavior, first when the soldier cries and then when the soldier tells him the particulars of his desertion. Garrel says that if the soldier had tried to run away from Garrel's unit, the sergeant would have shot him immediately. However, Garrel does not...