Honor In The Interlopers

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬Ulrich von Gradwitz is one of the two main characters in The Interlopers, feuding over a plot of land, each man believing it is rightfully his. Throughout the story, he shows both honor and devotion.

In the beginning of the story, when faced with his enemy, Georg Znaeym, he shows honor in the face of temptation. “Each had a rifle in his hand, each had hate in his heart and murder uppermost in his mind. The chance had come to give full play to the passions of a lifetime. But a man who has been brought up under the code of a restraining civilization cannot easily nerve himself to shoot down his neighbor in cold blood and without word spoken, except for an offence against his hearth and honor.” The passage mentions nothing of the law, or fear of consequences – Ulrich does shoot purely out of his own code of ethics. Shooting would solve the feud in his favor (you can’t trespass on land if you’re dead, and you certainly can’t file a lawsuit to try and win the land back) but refuses even with opportunity is spades. Throughout the story, Ulrich never harms or attempts to sabotage Georg, despite Georg’s harsh words and violation of the land Ulrich believes to be his. When

He is steadfast and dedicated to his goals, even if they aren’t ones of good intent. He is shown patrolling the forest strip in search of interlopers. “…and this wind-scourged winter night Ulrich had banded together his foresters to watch the dark forest, not in quest of four-footed quarry, but to keep a look-out for the prowling thieves whom he suspected of being afoot from across the land boundary.” Ulrich spends his time and resources to defend what he believes in, which is in this case, his ownership of the land. Furthermore, he keeps faith that his men will rescue him, and says “”They are making all the speed they can, brave lads,” said Ulrich gladly.” While his men do turn out to be wolves, he keeps faith in them until his ambiguous