These characters are in the story "The Upturned Face" by Stephen Crane.
They were confronted with the corpse of their dead comrade. Though both do not want to touch the body of their comrade, they decided to do so and have the corpse buried.
The adjutant was more inclined to leave the body untouched while Lean has to do the right thing despite his personal revulsion.
The adjutant is more self preserving. He admitted to himself that he is a coward. Lean, on the other hand, though not wanting to touch the corpse has a better moral code than the adjutant. He knows what the right thing to do is and has to do it despite his inner turmoil.
