How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I assumed that he had gone down for a stroll – after punting all the way down the river from Nam Dinh a few snipers would not have worried him; he was as incapable of imagining pain or danger to himself as he was incapable of conceiving the pain he might cause others. […] Yet he was sincere in his way: it was coincidence that the sacrifices were all paid by others, until that final night under the bridge to Dakow. (1.5.1.1)
Fowler can't bring himself to despise Pyle because Pyle isn't the least bit malicious or indifferent to the harm he causes. If he were indifferent to murdered children, he wouldn't feel the need to justify their deaths in the name of some future democratic paradise.
Quote #5
'The first dog I ever had was called Prince. I called him after the Black Prince. You know, the fellow who …'
'Massacred all the women and children in Limoges.'
'I don't remember that.'
'The history books gloss it over.'
Pyle has a habit of not seeing warts. He'll honor his heroes without really verifying that they are heroes.
Quote #6
'We go and invade the country: the local tribes support us: we are victorious: but like you Americans we weren't colonialists in those days. Oh no, we made peace with the king and we handed him back his province and left our allies to be crucified and sawn in two. They were innocent. They thought we'd stay. But we were liberals and we didn't want a bad conscience.' (2.2.2.52)
In Fowler's assessment, intervention in another country's affairs is usually based on a lie: that the intervening power will stay long enough to prevent retaliation against the peoples it came to help.