The Night - “Say Yes”
Wolff writes, “He picked up the garbage pail and went outside. The night was clear and he could see a few stars to the west, where the lights of the town didn't blur them out. On El Camino the traffic was steady and light, peaceful as a river. He felt ashamed that he had let his wife get him into a fight.” The night offers an ambiance for him to meditate about the relationship with his wife. He recognizes that fighting with his wife is not worthwhile for they will not share their beings for eternity. The tranquillity which is promoted by night encourages him to apologize to her and mitigate adverse moods arising from their fight.
Captain King - “Soldier's Joy”
Wolff explicates, “Hooper was glad to see him again because Captain King was too lazy to do his own job or to make sure the guards were doing theirs. He stayed in the guardhouse and left everything up to Hooper. Captain King had gray hair and a long grayish face. He was a West Point graduate with twenty-eight years of service behind him, just trying to make it through another two years so he could retire at three-quarters pay.” Captain King is no longer active due to his advanced age which is alluded to by his “gray hair and face.” His physical exhaustion is attributed to the long years which he has been in service. Accordingly, his vibrancy and energy declines as his age advances.
Trac - “Soldier's Joy”
Wolff explains, “The other was a radio operator named Trac, who had managed to airlift himself out of Saigon during the fall of the city by hanging from the skids of a helicopter. That was the story Hooper had heard, anyway, and he had no reason to doubt it; he’d seen the slopes pull that trick plenty of times, though few of them were as young as Trac must have been then—nine or ten at the most.” Trac is dexterous based on how he maneuvers the helicopter in the backdrop of the falling city. His experts is confirmed when he comes out alive from the risky circumstance. Therefore, being a radio operator demands adroitness and intelligence which are imperative when facing precarious circumstances.
