Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

Billy knows halftime isn't going to going to go well when Lodis begins slurring his words and has no idea where he is. Billy tries to explain that they're down on the field getting ready to run a drill. He thinks he needs to tell Dime that they can't do this, but Dime is on the other side of the formation with a marching band in between them for symmetry's sake. Billy feels as though they're preparing to march into battle. Billy watches the high school marching bands get into formation and thinks that their innocent baby faces make him feel old.

Billy takes in the drum major, the Army Drill Team, and a corps of ROTCs. The drum major counts the marching band in, and as the band starts, Billy notices Destiny's Child slip in front of the formation. Billy feels like he's floating outside of himself as Destiny's Child begins to sing. When the drums start back up, the entire formation begins to march across the field. Billy watches flag girls, drill teams, the ROTCs, and marching bands weave in and off the field, filling it with noise. Later, he'll agree that it looked like a Broadway musical, but during the show, he feels like he just needs to hang on. He thinks the high school dance troupes look like strippers, and Destiny's Child walk in a way that seems to defy biomechanics.

Strobe lights start flashing as troupes of dancers take the makeshift stage on the other side of the field. Lodis is already flinching and begins to howl when fireworks start going off. Billy tries to calm Lodis, but he sees that even Crack looks clammy. Billy thinks that this is the perfect PTSD trigger, but Bravo has no choice but to get through it. As he marches, Billy realizes that this show is supposed to be deadly serious, even though it's ridiculous. He looks for the mark that will tell him to turn back around, while Destiny's Child will go on to take the stage. The announcer introduces Destiny's Child, and Billy feels as though the world is falling apart.

As he watches Destiny’s Child, Billy remembers being told to assume he's going to die when he deployed. He wonders how he can possibly go back after seeing Destiny's Child up close, but reasons that it's not supposed to make sense. When Bravo reaches their mark, they flounder a bit. Day starts counting off steps and Billy finds his stride. He watches the ROTC boys in front, thinking they're probably older than he is, but they look much younger. Now, Bravo stands for a minute, and Billy watches the field fill with dancers. The backup dancers dance like "the nastiest video on MTV." Out of the corner of his eye, Billy watches the Drill Team's rifles going around and around.

The strobe lights make Billy's headache worse, so he narrows his eyes. He thinks of the spectacle before him as a stew of sex and toy soldiers, and he is perplexed that everyone seems fine with the sexiness on display. Behind the stage, fans hold up cards that form an American flag. Billy struggles to make sense of what he's seeing, and the ground seems to tilt. He begins to wonder if this experience is the most real that life will ever get, and he wonders if this surge of terrifying chemicals and hormones is what God truly is.

Day instructs his half of Bravo to march, and they end up marching to handlers who hustle them backstage. A woman instructs them to march out onto the middle level of the stage, find their Xs, and stand at attention. She teases the tense-looking Bravos, and Billy notices that even Day looks unwell. As fireworks that sounds like bombs continue to go off, Billy thinks that the show feels just like an ambush without the murder.

The Bravos move behind the stage backdrop, and suddenly, Beyoncé steps through. She's gorgeous and close enough to touch. Billy watches handlers offer her water and help her change, and he thinks that she's one of the most powerful people on the planet to perform in front of so many people. Billy meets her eyes, hoping for acknowledgement or a look of compassion, but she grabs her microphone and disappears back onto the stage.

Someone pushes Billy out, and as he looks out at the crowd, he wishes he were at war. There, he knows what he's doing and doesn't have the entire country watching. Someone shoves him onto the stage as the music slows and grinds, and he's barely breathing when he finds his mark. His head rushes, and he watches the Drill Team tossing their rifles with fixed bayonets, and he thinks that they could kill themselves. Beyoncé sings about needing a "soldjah," and backup dancers dance around Bravo like pole dancers. Billy thinks this is wrong and hates that his mother and sisters are watching.

Billy notices Sykes weeping, and Billy hopes that they'll make it through. He focuses on the cheerleaders and picks out Faison through the smoky fireworks haze. Billy looks to the sky and doesn't blink as the sleet falls in his face. He feels as though he's rushing towards the future and only returns to the real world when Day taps him on the shoulder.