Revenge

“”Anybody ever asks you what the sweetest thing in life is”-said Lazzaro, “it`s revenge.”” (pg. 139) These were the words of Paul Lazzaro, a very despiteful character in the novel. As a friend of the young Roland Weary (another disliked character), he`s overall view of life is morally incorrect. He swears revenge on two people throughout the chapter. One of them is Billy, for supposedly being responsible for Weary`s death. The other, is the Englishman who played the part of the fairy godmother in the play, for breaking Lazzaro`s arm when he found the man trying to steal a box of cigarettes from under his pillow. None of these reasons justify the need for revenge. People like Lazzaro though, who cannot, under any circumstance bare humiliation, should be pittied. These are the insecure, self rejected and pathetic beings of a society. I would never trust a man like this a war with my life. The opposite personality of Paul Lazzaro, would probably be Edgar Derby, the honorable soldier who accompanied Billy through his entire stay at the hospital, and is named leader of the Americans by the end of the chapter.