The banality of a teenage American’s cravings contrasts with war politics

Evidence

“Maybe I’m on the other side,” he mused happily; never had he felt so close to himself. He began to whistle and took off his helmet which he swung beside him from its chin strap, like a basket; now and then he touched his pistol butt in its unbuckled holster; all sense of danger had faded, but the touch of the weapon cooled his finger tips; he encouraged this strange new sense of self-sufficiency, of carrying everything he possessed on his back. — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 423 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Wartime disorientation can dissolve into a feeling of self-sufficient freedom rather than fear — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 423; Living under looming war requires adapting psychologically to permanent low-grade dread — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 138

Broader Connections

• Wartime disorientation can dissolve into a feeling of self-sufficient freedom rather than fear #complicates (0.72) — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 423