"Displaced Person" by Eric Frank Russell

 First appeared in D. McIlwraith's Weird Tales. Reprinted by Terry Carr, Peter Haining, Isaac Asimov, Martin Harry Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, Al Sarrantonio.

 

Summary: 

 A man arrives in a foreign country although who he is and why is part of the mystery.

 

Discussion with Spoilers Galore: 

While not the most stylistically impressive, there are four mysteries to unravel. A person cannot read it too quickly. If you get only one, you'll probably hate it. Two, it's okay. Three, you like it. Four, you might consider it a minor work of genius as Terry Carr apparently did by collecting it into a major fantasy anthology. 

First is the displaced person and out feelings toward them. Most of humanity is bound to feel empathy toward this person. In fact, on the same year this story was published, the President signed the Displaced Person Act. However, this person admits to being the cause of the war. Does that erode the natural empathy a person might feel?

Second, the easiest, is that the displaced is Lucifer, but hold on to this or you'll dismiss prematurely. It refers to the war in Heaven in John Milton's Paradise Lost--a character most professors love and love to love to antagonize people of faith because his character is considered the better vs. God.

Third, remember when this written, the war that had just taken place. Who might Lucifer apply to?

Fourth, now that you have all the relevant information, which you can only get once you know who the player is, you'll need to reread. And on that reread, you'll note the careful balancing that Russell has put into play. The four surprises combine and it puts one in a weird place (hence, weird tale). It becomes a mirror for anyone's too quick response.

That Terry Carr was the first to reprint it a quarter of a century later suggests that few read the tale with the time and attention it deserves.