Theme: War and Heroes Flashcards
Glamourised image of a pilot contrasted with disappointing realism. Shows appearance vs reality of war
“I’d like to think that it flows behind me in the wind when I walk but I guess it doesn’t”
Nostalgia for war. Francis can’t separate himself from his wartime identity
“I am wearing my old army fatigue jacket”
Francis still uses military language to describe things, shows lasting effect on war on him mentally
“my mission was about to begin”
Example of trauma brought on by the war
“He kept massaging the air that occupied the space his legs used to fill”
Francis daydreams about being a hero as a child. Likes idea of it. His idea of being a hero is heavily influenced by fiction e.g. fairy tales
“I knelt there like a knight at her feet”
Innacurate/glamourised + naive impression of war from young people who haven’t experienced real war yet
“we drank vin rouge like the heroes in a Hemingway novel”
Reminiscing upon good times cut off abruptly by sharp statement. Symbolises how quickly his childhood/innocence and ability to be silly ended due to war.
“And I had not yet killed anyone”
Unglamourous realism to show what war is REALLY like
“grunts and hisses and farts”
“nobody displaying heroics or bravado”
“he has had diarrhoea for three days”
Identity changed by war so much that pre- and post- war are described as two whole different lives. Not the same people before and after.
“this is the pause between one life and another”
One positive that war brings is comaradery that comes from a shared experience
“The veterans in the St Jude club always greet me with big hellos”
War described like an epic tale
“The cover reads Frenchtown Warriors”
Others think of Francis as a hero, even if he does not believe it himself.
(but their views here can be invalidated by other things: Arthur contradicts himself later and we don’t respect Larry)
“You’re a goddamn hero” - Arthur Rivier
“That face, what’s left of it, is a symbol of how brave you were, the Silver Star you earned” - Larry LaSalle
Revelation of Francis’ heroics makes reader have respect for him. His actions make up for the fact he wants to kill someone (Larry) as we do not think of him as a bad person
“Falls on a grenade” etc.
“How many men were you willing to die for?”
War too traumatic to talk about
“Nobody talks about the war”
“The war nobody wants to talk about…”
Symbolic of how other people’s trauma is too large/serious to support
“I place my arm around his shoulder to support him… he outweighs me by at least fifty pounds”
