Exploration 5: Brent Nicol

1. The story that meant the most to me so far was the story about Rat torturing the cattle. I think this story truly captures what kind of mental and emotional damage that the war has had on them.An example of an event of this story that shows this is when Rat whispers something to the calf and begins to cry as he is killing it (pg.75).

2. The character I feel like I connect with the most thus far is Rat Kiley. I feel like he is a character that is trying to make the best out of a shitty situation. Eventually, he breaks and takes it out on a calf. But, he had a playful yet rugged side which I can admire. I think Rat's qualities are that he is smart when it comes to the jungle, and he also understands that it is kill or be killed and one needs to be careful or bad things will happen (like to Lemon).

3. I want to share a story that happened on page 84. This is the story about Lemon and the dentist. He was so ashamed of himself and he felt as if he was a complete coward. He wanted to prove that he was tough so bad that he had the dentist pull out a completely good tooth. He forced himself to conquer his fears so that he would not be viewed as a coward by himself and his "brothers".

4. "War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also a mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead." (pg. 76) this excerpt impacted me because it tells so clearly how a soldier views war. It truly captures the emotions and feelings of a soldier because it is a jumble of mixed feelings and the good and bad. It is hard to think of the positives when it comes to the thought about war, but, according to Tim, war forces a child to grow into a man as well as gives the man a different viewpoint on the world around him.