Chapter 10: Stockings

Why did Henry Dobbins continue to carry his girlfriend’s stocking even after she broke up with him?

• Henry Dobbins continued to carry his girlfriend’s stocking even after she broke up with him because it comforted him and provided what he believed to be protection. “Even now, twenty years later, I can see him wrapping his girlfriend's pantyhose around his neck before heading out on ambush.” (O’Brien)He thought that carrying them after all this time, that they have this power that had kept him safe all this time. “No sweat," he said. "The magic doesn't go away."(O’Brien)

Consider the comparison O’Brien makes between Dobbins and America. Does O’Brien like America? Does he respect it?

• He likes America and does respect it. After all its faults, including the draft, it was still his home, and still provided the place he called home, with the people he called family. In the end he like Dobbins had a reason, and that was so that the families and children can lay their heads knowing that there is safety in their homes.

Reflection:

Not only does this chapter show courage but also the push and drive to survive. No matter how bad home seemed, they still had their eyes on the prize; getting home, to wherever and whoever that involved. Their service wasn’t necessarily optional but no matter, they still did what they could in the situations they were given and continued to give. Perhaps they each and all had their superstitions and different coping mechanisms that seemed strange, however, they did and tried what they could to stay sane in the face of such war. “Like his country, too, Dobbins was drawn toward sentimentality.” (O’Brien)