Essay Questions

Why is Wolff and his brother Geoffrey keeping a distance from their father when growing up?

Wolff and his brother have grown without a present father despite him being there physically. Their father is always very busy scheming on how he is going to defend himself in various courts because he is facing many trials. He does not have enough time for his sons and he leaves them to grow on their own. As the story progresses, the reader can see that there is pure fatherly rebuff. Wolff and Geoffrey have no role model to look up to and that is why they are keeping a distance from their father.

How does the irony of Wolff as a soldier depict itself in the In Pharaoh’s Army?

Wolff is the protagonist in the story and his main role is being a soldier. In the course of his profession, he learns that the role of a soldier is not necessarily doing the right thing but following orders from above. His perspective is quite different from that of his seniors. His seniors do not care about anything but the anticipated results. It does not matter even if it means violating the rights of civilians because the objective of Wolff's seniors is to win the war. Ironically, Wolff as a soldier does some things that he thinks are not right, but he has no options. Therefore, Wolff betrays himself by following the orders of seniors when he knows that he is not doing the right thing.

What is the symbolic meaning of the television as used in the book In Pharaoh's Army?

Wolff uses the television in the story to represent his dishonesty and false promises. Wolff together with his friend Bennet comes up with a plan to deceive their superior to give them a colored television set because they are looking forward to watching Bonanza. Despite promising to hand over the TV to a Vietnam family, Wolff keeps it to himself after finishing watching the Bonanza event. This shows Wolff’s level of dishonesty and falsehood.