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Grandma Wolf
One of the antagonists in the novel, Sergeant Hanley is a vicious and cruel man, who is in charge of Tommo and Charlie’s company at their training camp, and then later again in the war. He instantly takes a dislike to Charlie, because Charlie refuses to “jump through hoops” for Hanley like the other men do. Charlie boldly tells Hanley what he thinks of Hanley’s malicious and often ridiculous orders, and Hanley continues to attack Charlie for his so-called disobedience. He also mistreats Tommo because he is Charlie’s brother. Tommo later claims that it was Hanley, rather than the war itself, that broke the men’s spirit. Hanley is ultimately responsible for Charlie’s execution: Charlie refuses to abandon a gravely injured Tommo on the battlefield and follow Hanley’s suicidal order to attack a German trench, even though the men are completely vulnerable to attack. Charlie stays with Tommo, and Hanley orders his execution because of it, purely out of spite. Hanley is eventually killed, but it is too late for Charlie to be saved from his execution.
Sergeant “Horrible” Hanley Quotes in Private Peaceful
The Private Peaceful quotes below are all either spoken by Sergeant “Horrible” Hanley or refer to Sergeant “Horrible” Hanley . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 10
Quotes
From then on, every waking hour of every day, Hanley was at us. […] By the time we went back up into the line, Hanley snapping at our heels, his voice had become a vicious bark inside each of our heads. Every one of us hated him like poison, a great deal more than we had ever hated Fritz.
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Chapter 12
Quotes
“The whole court martial took less than an hour, Tommo. That’s all they gave me. An hour for a man’s life. Not a lot, is it? And do you know what the brigadier said, Tommo? He said I was a worthless man. Worthless. I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, Tommo, but none of them ever upset me, except that one. I didn’t show it, mind. I wouldn’t have given them the satisfaction.”
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Sergeant “Horrible” Hanley Quotes in Private Peaceful
The Private Peaceful quotes below are all either spoken by Sergeant “Horrible” Hanley or refer to Sergeant “Horrible” Hanley . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 10
Quotes
From then on, every waking hour of every day, Hanley was at us. […] By the time we went back up into the line, Hanley snapping at our heels, his voice had become a vicious bark inside each of our heads. Every one of us hated him like poison, a great deal more than we had ever hated Fritz.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12
Quotes
“The whole court martial took less than an hour, Tommo. That’s all they gave me. An hour for a man’s life. Not a lot, is it? And do you know what the brigadier said, Tommo? He said I was a worthless man. Worthless. I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, Tommo, but none of them ever upset me, except that one. I didn’t show it, mind. I wouldn’t have given them the satisfaction.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
