Inferences

"The Ghost Soldiers"

1. The narrator thinks highly of Rat Kiley. After he was shot twice, Rat came to his rescue and tied on a compress, and Rat went back to fighting. The narrator is thankful for Kiley. "Thank God for Rat Kiley. Every so often, maybe four times altogether, he trotted back to check me out. Which took courage. It was a wild fight, guys running and laying down fire and regrouping and running again, lots of noise, but Rat Kiley took the risks."



2. The narrator talks about he should have pride when he got shot. Instead he was embarrassed and humiliated. "Getting shot should be an experience from which you can draw some small pride. " "Pride isn't the right word. I don't know the right word. All I know is, you shouldn't feel embarrassed. Humiliation shouldn't be part of it."

3. The narrator is pissed at Jorgenson for bungling the patch job. He couldn't walk or sit. He was borderline gangrene. "After the rot cleared up, once I could think straight, I devoted a lot of time to figuring ways to get back at him."

"On the Rainy River"
1. The narrator had to deal with internal conflicts regarding his decision about going to war. "I was drafted to fight a war I hated." "I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn't happen. I was above it."

2. The narrator did not want to let his family down. He was afraid of this whole decision, but only decided to go because he didn't want people to see him as a coward. "I feared losing the respect of my parents. I feared the law. I feared ridicule and censure."

3. The narrator had no self respect. Throughout all the internal conflicts and doing what he thought society would want him to do, he was still not happy with himself. "... and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war."