"He wished he could find some great sadness, or even anger, but the emotion wasn't there and he couldn't make it happen. Mostly he felt pleased to me alive. He liked the smell of the New Testament under his cheek, the leather and ink and paper and glue, whatever the chemicals were. He liked hearing the sounds of the night. Even his fatigue, it felt fine, the stiff muscles and the prickly awareness of his own body, a floating feeling. He enjoyed not being dead."
I chose to mention this quote because as I was reading it, I understood who Kiowa is. Oftentimes it is hard to "read" a person in real life, so it should be easier reading about someone in a book, but that isn't always the case. Although as I read this quote, I did understand Kiowa as a person, or at least part of him. I could imagine a man laying and admiring the little things he has right at that moment. He had his life, and he explained it in such a wonderful way that many people would not take for granted.
Pg. 20
"They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barley restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture. They carried their reputations."
I really like this quote because it speaks to the fact that these men are normal people, heroes in the eyes of many, but not always in the eyes of themselves. Although they are in the war, and living it day by day, they still reminisce on memories from their past. I think that oftentimes people forget about who they used to be because they are so focused on the present, and one should sometimes think about the future. What is my purpose in life, how can I get there, and who will support me?
Pg. 20
"They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barley restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture. They carried their reputations."
I really like this quote because it speaks to the fact that these men are normal people, heroes in the eyes of many, but not always in the eyes of themselves. Although they are in the war, and living it day by day, they still reminisce on memories from their past. I think that oftentimes people forget about who they used to be because they are so focused on the present, and one should sometimes think about the future. What is my purpose in life, how can I get there, and who will support me?
i completely agree, being able to breath life into a character that is based almost entirely off a real person is incredibly hard. i also agree that the way that Kiowa explained his life to be particularly different from the way the other people would.
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