How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Private Hollister was quiet for a minute. I wondered if he was going through a list of buddies, trying to remember if everybody was still accounted for. (7.26)
Some memories aren't worth talking about. Hollister doesn't have to think long and hard about his brother's death during the war to make him upset, and Jamie can tell right away that he's bothered when talking about it. It turns out not everybody has happy memories of the past.
Quote #5
"They might have been biting something, but it wasn't anything dangling off the end of my hook. Still, the scenery was great and the beer was flowing, and I have lots of warm and fuzzy memories." (9.22)
Byrd went fishing a couple weeks ago on leave and had a grand old time… he thinks. From what he can remember of it, he had fun. Still, that might have just been the alcohol. There's a big difference between the way he talks about his memories of fishing (lighthearted and happy) and the war (dark and haunting).
Quote #6
I remembered something that Sgt. Byrd had told me, that he dreamed about Vietnam almost every night, and some nights he woke up to find himself crouched in the dark between the bunks in his barracks, his whole body alert, listening. (10.31)
Doesn't sound like fun to us—we can see why Byrd would just as soon forget the past, though it keeps creeping back into his life. There's another form of memory happening here, too: Jamie is remembering someone else's memory. Weird, right? We can tell that she's never had that experience at war, but she's still disturbed by it.