Summary

At the outset of Good Night, Irene, in Chapter 1, Irene Woodward boarded a train from New York to Washington, DC. She did not tell her mother she was leaving and surreptitiously removed her photos and belongings from her fiancé’s apartment. She had accepted his proposal “only because the Woodwards had pressured her”, however his abuse escalated as the wedding drew closer (5). When a soldier boarded the train, Irene moved her bag to offer him a seat and attempted to chat with him. She performed her usual flirtations, but the soldier was disinterested and told her not to go to the front lines. Before he disembarked, he told her, “If you get to come home, you will be so grateful you won’t realize at first that you survive. But once you know you survived, you’ll only be starting to understand...