Chapter 20

"The Ghost Soldier"

Quote 1:

"Getting shot should be an experience from which you can draw some small pride. I don't mean the macho stuff. All I mean is that you should be able to talk about it [...]". (page 191)

Analysis:

In this quote we can see that back then, men still bragged about who had the biggest scar or the biggest wound, to proof who was the manliest of them all. Its the same with being shot, if you were shot, you could later share the experience with your buddies and proof to them that your masculinity and audaciousness was superior to theirs. But, being shot in the butt, and having to apply an ointment three times a day in your rear end, is not something someone should be proud to share with his war buddies.

Quote 2:

"He was sitting there with Dave Jensen and Mitchell Sanders and a few others, he seemed to fit in very nicely, all the smiles and group raptor.
That's probably what cinched it." (page 203)

Analysis:

What this quote makes us understand is that truly, the troop-buddie bonds that you create are only temporary and last until the war is over. Jorgenson, as inept as he was, had become part of the troop, and O'Brien who had left the group even though he was part of the troop longer than Jorgenson, wasn't anymore. This inclusion and exclusion of people in the group had nothing to do with precedence of a group member but it had to do a whole lot to belonging to the fighting group.

Quote 3:

"Azar shrugged. After a second he reached out and clapped me on the shoulder, not roughly but not gently either. 'What's real?' he said. 'Eight months in fantasyland, it tends to blur the line. Honest to God, I sometimes can't remember what real is."

Analysis:

In this quote Azar manifests what the problem with giving teenagers  automatic gun, and letting them use them on situations where society expectations do not apply. Due to the young age at which Azar is asked to join the war he creates his own rules of what is acceptable and what isn't for the "[...] Eight months in fantasyland [...]".