“The boy would perhaps become an accountant, certainly something one rung above his father, because each generation must better itself, as they had done by emigrating.” 

The soldier’s childhood from the title story begins like so many around the world: His family has left their home country to find better opportunities. The desire for their child to move upward in society is relatable, and, for a time in the story, it is fulfilled. The boy’s downfall later in life destroys his parents’ dreams for him, giving the story a dramatic and tragic tone.

“A mother and father must never make any move that might jeopardize the opportunities they themselves have not been able to provide.” 

This is another early passage that reinforces that the soldier’s parents only wanted the best for their son. Their concern for their child’s future makes them sympathetic characters, and their indifference toward their Black neighbors’ suffering makes them complicated and complex. The soldier’s parents are an early example of Gordimer’s ability to craft complex families that heighten the joy and sadness of her main characters’ stories throughout the collection.

“We should have never allowed it. Giving in, letting you run wild with those boys. It started to go wrong then, we should have seen you were going to make a mess of our lives, I don’t know why. You had to go jumping from up there. Do you know what I felt, seeing you fall like that, enjoying yourself frightening us to death while you fooled around with killing yourself? We should have known it. Where it would end. Why did you have to be like that? Why? Why?”

The soldier’s mother laments who her son came to be, elevating the drama between the characters and enhancing the tragic tone of the story. Her recollection of her son’s time parachuting offers an image of the soldier falling from a great height, which foreshadows and enhances the drama of his fall from grace.