How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I seen a 240 take a guy's leg off from a hundred yards," a big-headed corporal said. "The whole leg came off and the sucker was just laying there on the ground, looking at his leg as he died." I felt a little sick. (2.37-38)
Birdy's about to go to war, and the anxiety of what he's getting into is hitting him hard. This sunny little anecdote isn't helping.
Quote #2
It all looked so much better in the training films, when the figures were just silhouettes flickering across a screen. When it was all just a video game. But up close, the smell of blood was connected with real people. I knew that many of them wouldn't make it. They would be dead before the night came, or surely by the next morning. (5.100)
Birdy's training might have prepared him a little, but no amount of screens could have prepared him for the reality of war—being up close and personal with the dying.
Quote #3
"Mess with my leg again and I'll shoot you through the top of your head," she answered. "Yo Jonesy, is Marla weird or what?" I asked. "Hey man, we all weird," Jonesy said. "Or do you always do drive-bys in the name of democracy?" (5.169-171)
Jonesy likes to compare situations they face in war to examples from his life in the U.S. Comparing their shooting to drive-bys is, sadly, a good analogy.