Not knowing (Metaphor)
Stewart was “eighteen” when he came “home on leave.” He was “fit” and money was “burning a hole” in his “pocket.” That definitely made him one of the most eligible bachelors in the town; what was more, his friends were “all stoney broke,” so he was more likely to succeed than they. “All the girls” were after him. Unfortunately, money could make one rich, but it couldn’t make one wise. Stewart had managed to get one of them “pregnant.”All the fun stopped abruptly, for he had to do only one “decent thing” he knew. He married the girl, but then “reality kicked in”. In vivid metaphors, the author depicts Stewart’s life.
Inexperienced (Metaphor)
Bullying is a common issue in the army and the reasons that some soldiers get bullied are different and unpredictable. For instance, Geordie has been given “a hard time” by the lads because he is a “virgin soldier.” It means that he hasn’t been in bloody combat yet. The strangest thing is that he is not the only one soldier who has never done it. “There is 100,000 in the British army.” That’s like “a one in a thousand chance of shooting someone,” “let alone killing someone.” Lack of sexual experience is metaphorically represented as incapability of any other physical performance, and many unconfident people believe that such experiences interlock.
Call it quits (Metaphor)
Stewart is sick and tired of being stuck in a desert. He doesn’t want to fight anymore. Unfortunately for him, “a few days from going home” and “hanging” his “boots,” he has got “a fucking bloodbath to deal with.” Stewarts feels as if he has been kicked. There are problems that he is supposed to solve effortlessly, but he can’t. That is almost a breaking point for him. Now they have to choose: do the right thing and risk their lives, or do the wrong thing and think about it for the rest of their lives.
