The Great Santini Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 4 Summary

Chapter 4 Summary

Several hours into the trip, the car stops at a set of railroad tracks while Bull watches a freight train roll by them. Bull has always been enamored of trains, and he becomes wistful at the sight of one. As the train passes, Bull awakens his sleeping family and orders them to go to the bathroom in the bushes along the road. Matt says he doesn't need to go, and the ladies refuse to use the bushes. Ben, the oldest, knows that his father will refuse to stop again if anyone needs to go to the bathroom, and he joins his father to pee by the tracks.

As dawn breaks, husband and wife chat in the car. Bull tells Lillian which Marines and their families have been posted where. Ben notes that the only roots a military family has are the other military families who are also shuffled around according...
(read more)