Chapters 4 - 6 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 4 is entitled "Rumors of War", an obvious double-entendre. Generally speaking, people prefer to feel that their life and effort have a purpose. In wartime, with heavy and constant violence coupled with incessant blunders, meaning and purpose are often difficult to see or simply non-existent. This absence of logical purpose is nearly intolerable to the human mind over the long term and thus a rational narrative is provided—even if that narrative is nothing more than rumor. The book presents numerous rumors, some entirely fanciful—for example, German sympathizers using sheep herd 'formations' to point out Allied troop locations—to the credible but incorrect. Seemingly, the believability of a rumor was not directly tied to its success. Many rumors were started in jest, or even as a counter to boredom. One common rumor had the military...