Crazy (Metaphor)
The protagonist thought that Timhead was crazy, and that wouldn’t be a surprise anyway. Timhead killed a civilian kid – though by mistake – and that could influence his mental capabilities. He asked, “You fucked in the head, man?” He could not believe that Timhead, his friend and a generally good guy, was telling him that he became a Marine in order “to kill hajjis.”
Terror (Metaphor)
“On the roads” he was “scared all the time.” That was “a kind of low-grade terror” mixed with “the boredom.” Of course, there were occasions when he was seized by “pure terror.” These are the moments, when your “heart skyrockets and your vision closes in and your hands are white and your body is humming.” You “can’t think” anymore. You are “just an animal, doing what you you’ve been trained for.”
Not-existent (Metaphor)
Rachel was an old girlfriend. There were times when he thought that he loved her; however, the thing they had going “went on life support.” Rachel was “a pacifist in high school,” so once he decided to sign his enlistment papers, they understood that they wouldn’t be able to make it work. In spite of the fact that they had mutual plans and weren’t planning to end it so abruptly, it became clear that they simply weren’t meant to be.
Nonsense (Simile)
The soldiers couldn’t understand what was going on. They were told that they had a chance to decompress, so they thought that they would have a day or two of absolute idleness. Sitting in the plane, they realized that they were going home. Luckily for them, their first stop was in Ireland. In spite of the fact that the whole situation made “as much sense as a goddamn football bat,” they enjoyed their time in Ireland.
Soundly asleep (Simile)
Waguih wasn’t going to let Zara win that argument. He knew that he had to be convincing, for his main goal was to make them feel guilty. To Waguih’s credit, he lied so smoothly that even the most suspicious person would believe him. He told them that he could sleep, that the horrors of the war still taunted him. However, it should be mentioned that Waguih slept “like a drunken baby.”
The target area (Simile)
It was better to keep away from “the target area.” That day Marines didn’t have “living targets,” so they had to fire just at an empty field. It wasn’t big, but it surely was the most dangerous place. Everything “within a circle with a radius as long as a football field” was doomed, everything died. “Incredible roar,” and “it shot out into the sky and hit six miles south” of them.
