"I mean, who in his right mind wants a parade? Or getting his back clapped by a bunch of patriotic idiots who don't know jack about what it feels like to kill people or get shot at or sleep in the rain and watch your buddy go down underneath the mud? Who needs it?" (page 150)
He is right. It is amazing how "in the dark" everyone is when watching the war from a distance. To be honest, those who don't fight in a war really don't know anything about it. It is easy for us by-standers to give our opinions on the war and our gratitudes toward the soldiers for all of their hard work when we do not know the reality of it. I mean, what hard work are we thanking them for, exactly? I can understand where Bowker's annoyance is coming from when he writes the letter to O'Brien. It is not as if the admiration he receives is hurting him any, it is just simply annoying. During the hardships I have experienced throughout my life, I thought the same thing towards people who pretended to empathize what I was going through. I know that they did not mean any disrespect, but I just would rather have not heard "it's going to be okay," when they have no idea. Sometimes it is just better to listen and accept than to give your two-sense, which is why I have great respect for Norman Bowker in this novel.
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