How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He talked at length through the morning about history, teaching the older students of grand wars fought in ancient England. (1.5)
Inman's early education glorified war, but his actual experience of war has been pretty awful.
Quote #2
He handed it to Inman and said, Come on, cite me one instance where you wished you were blind.
Where to begin? Inman wondered. Malvern Hill. Sharpsburg. Petersburg. Any would do admirably as example of unwelcome visions. But Fredericksburg was a day particularly lodged in his mind… (1.26-27)
It's pretty bad when someone asks you for a time when you wished you were blind and you have a whole list. The sights of war must be truly horrific for Inman.
Quote #3
Old Lee, not to be outdone, said it's a good thing war is so terrible or else we'd get to liking it too much. As with everything Marse Robert said, the men repeated that flight of wit over and over, passing it along from man to man, as if God almighty Himself had spoken. When the report reached Inman's end of the wall he just shook his head. Even back then, early in the war, his opinion differed considerably from Lee's, for it appeared to him that we like fighting plenty, and the more terrible it is the better. (1.35)
Lee's a hero to a lot of people. But Inman doesn't seem too impressed. What do you think? Is Lee a courageous figure in a tough spot? Or is he more of an oppressive authority figure himself?