You got face on your face.
-- Lewis Arno (II)

Importance: Arno’s blunt observation turns battlefield horror into a childlike diagnosis, capturing how the war forces the men to translate the unthinkable into simple, graspable language. The line also exposes Bagger’s precarious coping strategy, because his instinct is to turn grotesquerie into a joke even while the body’s fragility becomes newly obvious. By making the image both absurd and sickening, the novel establishes its tonal blend of dark comedy and trauma.

Did little bunny get lost in the warren?
-- Lyon Reis (IV)

Importance: Reis’s taunt reduces soldiers to prey and positions him as a hunter who controls not only discipline but also humiliation. The line shows how authority in the novel often operates through performance, with Reis using theatrical cruelty to remind Bagger and Arno that they are always being watched. It also sharpens the book’s contrast between the men’s physical vulnerability and...