Major THEME

ChamberlainÂ’s Thoughts on the Afterlife (inspired by KilrainÂ’s Death)

"There ought to be a Heaven...for the old soldier, there ought to be more than just that metallic end, and then silence, then the worms, and sometimes he believed, mostly he believed, but just this moment he did not believe at all, knew Kilrain was dead and gone forever, that the grin had died and would not reappear, vever, there was nothing beyond the sound of the guns but the vast dark, the huge nothing, not even silence, just an end..." (p.308)

Minor Themes

Human Nature:

"In a fight, it always seems that your fight is the hardest." (p.302)

Human Nature (Self-critical):

"Chamberlain shifted his feet idiotically." (p.305)

Civilians:

" ‘I mean the only one felt like pulling out was Meade. General Meade,’ he [Pitzer] added thoughtfully, eyeing Chamberlain. Never knew how to take these civilian colonels." (p.302)

Union vs. Confederacy (lost potential of Union men, supplies):

"there were questions about rations...All those wagons down there, there ought to be something." (p.303)

Duty:

"Gibbon...He had three brothers with the South." (p.304)

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