How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Several days ago he was doing local TV and the blithering twit-savant of a TV newsperson just came out and asked: What was it like? Being shot at, shooting back. Killing people, almost getting killed yourself. Having friends and comrades die right before your eyes. Billy coughed up clots of nonsequential mumblings, but as he talked a second line dialed up in his head and a stranger started talking, whispering the truer words that Billy couldn't speak. It was raw. It was some f***ed-up s***. It was the blood and breath of the world's worst abortion, baby Jesus shat out in squishy little turds. (Human Response.36)
We actually kind of wish he was able to say those things to the TV reporter. One of the things that hurts the country, at least in Billy's perspective, is that Americans are so removed from the reality of war. (And possibly the reality of everything.) He's forced to be two different people, because to tell the truth would be too much for most people.
Quote #2
No matter their age or station in life, Billy can't help but regard his fellow Americans as children. They are bold and proud and certain in the way of clever children blessed with too much self-esteem, and no amount of lecturing will enlighten them as to the state of pure sin toward which war inclines. He pities them, scorns them, loves them, hates them, these children. These boys and girls. These toddlers, these infants. Americans are children who must go somewhere else to grow up, and sometimes die. (Human Response.55)
This is a great example of how Billy views things from an us-versus-them perspective. In this case, Us is Army, and Them is Everyone Else. Billy can no longer relate to his fellow Americans, because they have no idea what he's done in the name of preserving all that they value. They probably don't even want to know.
Quote #3
He wants to know what happened that day in Ramallah. Did the major lose men that day? Friends? Did he watch them die? Billy feels a terrible need to connect, heart to heart, man to man, warrior to warrior, he craves that rough and necessary wisdom and yet can barely manage small talk with officers, much less crack the code of the major's vacancy to access something so personal and real. How is he supposed to break the ice? YO MAJOR, CHECK IT OUT, THEY GOT HEINEKENS ON TAP! (Human Response.70)
So, not only does Billy feel isolated from American civilians, but he also feels like he can't even talk to his fellow soldiers. Sure, Major Mac is hard to approach even on a good day due to his deafness and otherworldly behavior, but you'd think it wouldn't be so hard to have a serious talk with someone who's also been "there."