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down behind the hill. One of the pilots landed winging its way from tree to tree. And some half- 5
safe in a field near here the other day. He said to forgotten words of an old English writer come to
3
his captors, speaking fairly good English, “How mind: “The huntsmen are up in America. . . ..” Let
glad I am that the fight is over!” Then an us send these fragmentary notes to the huntsmen section three
Englishman gave him a cigarette, and an who are up in America, to the men and women
Englishwoman made him a cup of tea. That would whose sleep has not yet been broken by machine-
seem to show that if you can free the man from gun fire, and in the belief that they will rethink /
the machine, the seed does not fall upon them generously and charitably, perhaps shape
altogether stony ground. The seed may be fertile. them into something serviceable. And now, in the Virginia Woolf
At last all the guns have stopped firing. All the 10 shadowed half of the world, to sleep.
searchlights have been extinguished. The natural
darkness of a summer’s night returns. The
3 “The huntsmen are up in America, and they are already past their
innocent sounds of the country are heard again. first sleep in Persia.” — Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682), from “The
An apple thuds to the ground. An owl hoots, Garden of Cyrus.” — Eds.

Understanding and Interpreting

1. According to Woolf, why might the sound of the planes in the raid compel “one to think of
peace” more than prayers and anthems?
2. By the second paragraph, it becomes clear that this is as much a piece about gender as it is
about war. What is Woolf suggesting about the differences between men and women, and
their roles in war?
3. Explain what Woolf believes “damps thinking and encourages irresponsibility” (par. 3)?
4. Explain what Woolf means when she quotes William Blake: “Mental fight means fighting
against the current, not with it” (par. 3).
5. What does Woolf mean by the term “subconscious Hilterism”? Does she believe that it will be
defeated when Hitler and Germany are defeated? How do you know? What does she mean
when she says, “Hitlers are bred by slaves” (par. 5)?
6. Woolf writes that “We must compensate the man for the loss of his gun” (par. 7). What does
she mean and how does this statement relate to the rest of the text?
7. Explain the significance of this sentence: “But what is the use of freeing the young Englishman
if the young German and the young Italian remain slaves?” Keep in mind that England was at
war with Germany and Italy at this time.
8. Woolf envisions what might happen to the enemy pilot who was shot down (par. 9). What is
Woolf suggesting about war and peace through this imaginary scene?
9. Reread the final line of the essay. What is Woolf’s hope for those in America to do?

Analyzing Language, Style, and Structure

1. Vocabulary in Context. The title of the essay is “Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid,” and she
uses the word “think” regularly throughout the piece. Locate two or three different uses of the
word and explain its meaning within the different contexts.
2. Skill Focus. Woolf avoids specific references to herself throughout this essay. She does not,
for example, us the words “I” or “me.” She does, however, make herself known at times.

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