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The Wolf Pit: Two Horrors of the Civil War

© Lynda Ochsner

The Wolf Pit, by Marly Youmans, tells two unrelated stories from the Civil War era: one of a Confederate soldier; the other of a mute mulatto slave woman. With vivid description and emotion, Youmans depicts the horrors of war, including war prison camps, as well as the injustices in a slave's life.

In 1860s Virginia, Robin (so nicknamed for his singing a tune about a robin) experiences a soldier's life, through the slow routine of waiting punctuated by brief moments of combat. He and cousin Nash, away at war for over two years, frequently scavenge for food, valuables -- and books -- in abandoned homes. Once while searching through a house damaged in a recent battle, Robin comes across an intriguing book about "the green children."

Robin's fanciful thoughts about the mythical "green children" help him through daily life, and he keeps the book, as well as pictures of loved ones back home, close to him at all times. Often he remembers his mother, Aemilia, younger sister Virginia, and his sweetheart, cousin Fairinda. Later on, Robin and Nash become prisoners of war, sent to Elmira ("Helmira") prison camp in New York, where they hang on for their very survival. Like fellow soldier Beaufevre, a Louisiana soldier who frequently recites recipe ingredients and instructions, Robin holds to fond memories and fantasies to keep his sanity.

Back home, Robin's mother grieves the recent loss of her husband and daughter, and helps out a mulatto slave woman by buying her from a cruel slave owner on the streets of town. The woman, Agate, is 1/4 part negro and had her tongue cut from her because she could read. Soon Aemilia asks about Agate's story, and Agate, in first person, writes her story. She relates her pleasant, rather pampered, upbringing by the kind Fanny and Mr. Thomas. Agate's Christian slave owners provided a basic education at home along with their son, Young Mr. Thomas. Yet Agate's mother remembers too well the original Master and his heartless son "Young Master," and the hardships she endured at their hands before being sent to a relative of her Master. Agate's mother was herself half-white, biological daughter of the Master; Agate was conceived in terror at the hands of Young Master. Throughout her story, Agate agonizes over her prior ignorance during those happy years, as she further relates the tragedy that struck and the event that mutilated her.

The "wolf pit" refers to pits dug to trap wolves, one of the ways that farmers protect their sheep. Robin sees one such pit, and often relates his own struggles to that of the poor wolves caught in the trap, helpless to escape. The pit also seems to be a doorway to other worlds. In the story he reads, two mysterious children with skin tinted green are first discovered in such a wolf pit.

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