Tunnels

"..whoever drew the number 17 would strip off his gear  and crawl in headfirst with a flashlight and Lieutenant Cross's .45-pistol. The rest of them would fan out as security. They would sit down or kneel, not facing the hole, listening to the ground beneath them, imagining cobwebs and ghosts, whatever was down there - the tunnel walls squeezing in - how the flashlight seemed impossible heavy..." (p. 10)


 At first glance, the passage about the tunnels seems to be about one more job that the men must complete while on duty, nothing more, nothing less. However, I believe that this passage has more symbolism than what is first seen. No one really wants to go down in the tunnel, it is full of darkness, an instinctual fear that we all carry at some point in our lives. These men have been through war, gunfire and bombs, yet they carry this simple fear of the darkness, of not knowing. To me, this shows the essentially human side of the soldiers. They are heroes and as such, often we think of soldiers as being almost superhuman, sacrificing their lives for others. This passage helps to remind the reader that though the soldier may sacrifice, he is nothing more than human, and he carries the same flaws, the same fears. This reminder allows the reader to connect with the men in the novel, drawing them farther into the novel, helping them to feel as the soldiers feel, and to walk their paths.