How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #7
[…] with far more zeal than he had done anything in weeks, he picked up a pencil stub and wrote down under the inscription, in English, "Fathers and teachers, I ponder 'What is hell?' I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love." He started to write Dostoevski's name under the inscription, but saw – with a fright that ran through his whole body – that what he had written was almost entirely illegible. He shut the book. (108)
Could it be that the kind of hell Dostoevsky summons up here, that of being unable to love, is the same hell Sergeant X feels he has fallen into?
Quote #8
It was a long time before X could set the note aside, let alone lift Esmé's father's wristwatch out of the box. When he finally did lift it out, he saw that its crystal had been broken in transit. He wondered if the watch was otherwise undamaged, but he hadn't the courage to wind it and find out. He just sat with it in his hand for another long period. Then, suddenly, almost ecstatically, he felt sleepy. (162)
This final proof that someone genuinely cares for him – which is all the more special, considering that the watch is Esmé's precious memento of her father – creates a heartbreaking moment of relief for Sergeant X. The doubts that he had about surviving with his ability to love intact (see the Dostoevsky quote) seem to finally be resolved by this gift.
Quote #9
You take a really sleepy man, Esmé, and he always stands a chance of again becoming a man with all his fac – with all his f-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s intact. (163)
These memorable closing lines are a final expression of love and gratitude for Esmé, whose letter and gift brought Sergeant X back to real life. In effect, she restored his mental and emotional faculties. The spelling out of the latter is the narrator's way of reminding us of the fact that only a child's innocent, truly sincere friendship was able to remove the war's curse of loveless insincerity.