"A Late Encounter with the Enemy" is a short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O'Connor

Mary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...

. It was written in 1953 and published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by American author Flannery O'Connor. The collection was first published in 1955...

and is her only story dealing with the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.

Plot summary

The story is loosely based upon a newspaper article about a Civil War veteran attending his wife's graduation that Flannery O'Conner read in the early 1950s. General George Poker Sash is a one-hundred-and-four-year-old Civil War veteran who remembers very little about the War but is currently celebrated for his longevity. He has been invited to various public celebrations where he covets the attention, particularly, from beautiful women in the crowd, and he has an inflated image of himself despite his decrepit shape. The General's 62-year-old granddaughter, Sally Poker, prays every night that the general lives long enough to sit on the stage during her college graduation so that everyone can see her strong heritage and superiority. The general is wheeled onto the stage by Sally's young nephew, John Wesley, and is barely aware of the scene. Just as his granddaughter is graduating the general experiences a revelation that he must look beyond the past, and then he dies on-stage as his granddaughter is graduating although this is not immediately evident. It is unclear if Sally gets beyond his prideful idolatry about her heritage.