At the beginning of chapter 19 on page 102, Frederic updates
the reader on his daily activities to pass time. In this section I have found my favorite sentence in the
book thus far: “The rest of the time I was glad to kill”. In context, it is clear that Frederic
is finding ways to pass time, but out of context the sentence takes on an
entirely different meaning. Of
course there are sentences that could be interpreted differently out of
context, but this one jumped out at me.
Despite his injury and slow recovery process, Frederic is not only
desensitized and utterly indifferent about the effects of war, but he also
seems to take pleasure in the effect of war. He hasn’t killed anyone yet, but he has seen people
die and has not illustrated that he was affected in the least by the death of
his friends and comrades.
Ultimately, I think the dual meaning of this sentence provides a lot of
insight into Frederic’s view of war.
I agree with you Sophie, but I also believe that he is unaware of the ways he feels about War. Everyone around him says how terrible War is and how they wish it were over and therefore I believe he thinks that he should think that war is terrible. Even though he says out loud what he needs to in order to be socially accepted by his peers I believe he has the internal feeling that you described as "pleasure in the effect of war". Although he has these feelings, he is unaware of them but they shine through his actions such as being unaffected by the death of others.
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