The Things They Carried Azar Quotes

Azar

Quote 1

A while later, when we moved out of the hamlet, she was still dancing. "Probably some weird ritual," Azar said, but Henry Dobbins looked back and said no, the girl just liked to dance. (Style.1)

By calling her dance a "weird ritual," Azar transforms the girl into an Other. She's Vietnamese, so she couldn't possibly just be dancing because she's traumatized and she needs to dance, right? But Henry Dobbins brings us gently down to Earth when he looks at the girl and recognizes her as human, not Other, and says that hey, maybe the girl just likes to dance.