The Wars

"This was the greatest terror of war: what you didn't know if the men who told you what to do-where to go and when. What if they were mad-or stupid? What if their fear was greater than yours? What if they were brave and crazy-wanting and demanding bravery from you? In this passage of the book, we are presented with Robert Ross' internal conflict that he undergoes when he must decide whether or not he should kill the German that is sitting in front of him in the opposing trench. This portrays the authors message which comprises of the physical aspect of murder in war however encompasses the entirety of the pmhilosophy of war. In this situation, Robert Ross' internal conflict is at it's pivotal point as he must decide if killing is good or bad. Killing in this situation is would be good if his life was in danger; it would be bad if his life wasn't in danger. At this point, Robert is talking about The figure of authority because he is in the position of deciding to kill or not. My interest in this novel is at its peak in this point of the book because this is where there is a shift in his perspective as he realizes he killed when it was not needed. He questions the mentality of the person in authority but also of himself because he is the one in authority.