Chapter 21

"Night Life"

Quote 1:

"This whole war,' he said. 'You know what it is? Just one big banquet. Meat, man. You and me. Everybody. Meat for the bugs." (page 223)

Analysis:

For soldiers, imagination was another aspect of the the psychological baggage that soldiers had to carry. The fact that soldiers had the disadvantage of being in an unfamiliar place fighting against an unfamiliar enemy made them mentally unstable. Such is the case of Rat Kiley that imagines bugs clawing and nagging at his skin the whole time, he is just there a piece of "[...] Meat for the bugs.". Sometimes hallucinations take over the soldiers, partly because their body finds it difficult to adapt to the foreignness of the war and also because sometimes it is just too much to bare.

Quote 2:

"He took of his boots and socks, laid out his medical kit, doped himself up, and put a round through his foot. 

Nobody blamed him Sanders said." (page 223)

Analysis:

Before, we found out the real reason why Rat we might have assumed that he was hurt in combat; nothing else was expected of him since he had proved himself to be brave throughout the war. This is why it hurt to see him like that and give in to madness. It  may be true that "Nobody blamed him [...]" for doing what he did, sometime or another the soldiers have chickened out. But in Rat Kiley's mind he would see himself as a failure for committing such a cowardly act.