How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
No, Mama, I'm not the brave type. Not over here where the booming goes through you, where explosions in the distance shake your whole body. It's hard to be brave when you can stumble across a world of hurt around any corner, where dying becomes so casual you don't even notice it sitting next to you. (7.49)
When Birdy's mother called him the "brave type," she's thinking about him enlisting because he wanted to help other people. But there's a difference between the bravery it takes to join the army and actually being in the middle of war. Birdy definitely doesn't think he has the second type.
Quote #5
At first I felt a little bit ashamed at how scared seeing the bodies makes me, but I notice that everyone in First Squad stops talking when we come on that kind of scene. We do it in public, but this is a private war. (8.9)
At least Birdy's not alone. He knows the others are affected by the bodies too, even if they don't say anything. Maybe that's what he means by "private war."
Quote #6
"Birdy, you look nervous," Marla said. I was half lying, half sitting on a dark couch that looked as if it might have been a place where the patients waited to be seen.
"When the rest of the world is nervous," I said, "you can bet that I'm still cool."
"Oh, you sound so brave!" Marla said. (14.107-109)
Birdy was just thinking about the machine gun sounds outside the hospital, so you know he's lying. He's just trying to impress the ladies.