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Marian / Miss Turner
Robert Ross’s O.C. (Officer Commanding) from Wytsbrouk. Robert first meets Captain Leather after his dugout is bombed in the Battle of St. Eloi. Leather unsympathetic toward his men and detached from the dangers of the war, making haphazard strategic plans and careless orders from a distance and leaving his subordinate soldiers to fend for themselves. He is quick to criticize others for their actions despite his own cowardice. When Leather refuses to let Robert save their company’s horses and mules from impending shellfire, Robert and his fellow soldier Devlin disobey his orders, and Leather kills Devlin. Robert avenges this act by shooting and killing Leather.
Captain Leather Quotes in The Wars
The The Wars quotes below are all either spoken by Captain Leather or refer to Captain Leather. 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:
).
Part 3
Quotes
This—to Bates—was the greatest terror of war: what you didn’t know of the men who told you what to do—where to go and when. What if they were mad—or stupid? What if their fear was greater than yours? Or what if they were brave and crazy—wanting and demanding bravery from you? He looked away. He thought of being born—and trusting your parents. Maybe that was the same. Your parents could be crazy too. Or stupid. Still—he’d rather his father was with him—telling him what to do. Then he smiled. He knew that his father would take one look at the crater and tell him not to go.
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Part 5, Chapter 8
Quotes
He got out the Webley, meaning to shoot the animals not yet dead, but he paused for the barest moment looking at the whole scene laid out before him and his anger rose to such a pitch that he feared he was going to go over into madness. He stood where the gate had been and he thought: “If an animal had done this—we would call it mad and shoot it,” and at that precise moment Captain Leather rose to his knees and began to struggle to his feet. Robert shot him between the eyes.
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Captain Leather Quotes in The Wars
The The Wars quotes below are all either spoken by Captain Leather or refer to Captain Leather. 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:
).
Part 3
Quotes
This—to Bates—was the greatest terror of war: what you didn’t know of the men who told you what to do—where to go and when. What if they were mad—or stupid? What if their fear was greater than yours? Or what if they were brave and crazy—wanting and demanding bravery from you? He looked away. He thought of being born—and trusting your parents. Maybe that was the same. Your parents could be crazy too. Or stupid. Still—he’d rather his father was with him—telling him what to do. Then he smiled. He knew that his father would take one look at the crater and tell him not to go.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5, Chapter 8
Quotes
He got out the Webley, meaning to shoot the animals not yet dead, but he paused for the barest moment looking at the whole scene laid out before him and his anger rose to such a pitch that he feared he was going to go over into madness. He stood where the gate had been and he thought: “If an animal had done this—we would call it mad and shoot it,” and at that precise moment Captain Leather rose to his knees and began to struggle to his feet. Robert shot him between the eyes.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
