Arms and the Boy Innocence Quotes Page 1
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| Quote #1 Let the boy try along this bayonet-blade |
The fact that the boy needs to experiment with or feel along ("try") his bayonet-blade makes him seem inexperienced, innocent. He doesn't really understand yet what his weapon feels like, or what they are for. Hey, he'll learn soon enough.
| Quote #2 Lend him to stroke these blind, blunt bullet-heads |
It is almost as if this kid has never even held a gun or touched bullets. Yikes. We're thinking he might not make the best soldier at this point. Also, check out the language the speaker is using here. It sounds an awful lot like he wants the boy to "stroke" the bullets, to love them almost as if they were his girlfriend. Could he be talking about another kind of innocence lost as well?
| Quote #3 For his teeth seem for laughing round an apple. |
The boy's "teeth" are different from the "fine zinc teeth" (7) mentioned earlier. Those are for killing, but his are for "laughing" or eating an apple. The boy is like the cartridge but he is innocent, made for fun times, not for killing.
