The beginning of each chapter in Battle Dress, by Amy Efaw, you are greeted by a quote related to the military. Each quote demonstrates metaphors, personification, and similes. All of which related to the army in some way, but they all have a way of affecting the reader. During this essay I will give you a quote from the book, and analyze it’s figurative language.
Your cannot choose your battlefield,
The gods do that for you,
But you can plant a standard view,
Where a standard never flew.
~Nathalia Crane, “The Colors”
This quote, or stanza from a poem, is one of the first things you read when you begin reading “Battle Dress”. You don’t exactly know what it has to do with the book, and you don’t necessarily know what metaphors are in it. But, the entire stanza (or quote) is a metaphor. The first line, being, “Your cannot choose your battlefield”, doesn’t just relate to the army, is also relates to life in general. This being, the “Battlefield” being which path you take, because no matter what you do, your life will be a battlefield (at least in my opinion). The next line, which is, “The gods do that for you” is talking about how you don’t choose your destiny, gods do. But, in my opinion, you choose your own destiny, not gods, not your parents or friends... You do. I think that line is necessary yes, but I don’t quite believe in it. “But you can plant a standard view, Where a standard never flew.” I believe that is referring to your thoughts and opinions on things, and it doesn’t quite matter what anyone thinks, it’s what you think that matters in the end.
Your Momma was home and you left.
Your right!
Your Daddy was home and you left.
Your right!
That’s the reason you left.
Your right!
~U.S Army Marching Cadence
The poem above describes the main character, Andi Davis’s family life. Her parents are constantly fighting, making her home life really rough. I can’t really tell what figurative language this piece holds, but I can tell it’s almost like a personal metaphor for the main character, Andi. She says in the beginning that one of the main reasons she’s going to West Point is to get away from her crazy family, and be among a bunch of people who may be in the same boat as her. And as she goes along, she realizes that she’s there for even more than getting away from her family. The poem above summarizes her feelings in the beginning pretty well, considering.... Well, the entire poem. I think the author found this poem, and it really inspired her to make the character Andi the way she is.
There is no substitute for victory!
~General Douglas MacArthur, West Point class of 1903
This quote is only one sentence, and doesn’t really house any specific figurative language, but it does show the progress the character Andi has made since the first chapter. This quote was placed on Chapter 8, which is half way through the book. This quote demonstrates her growth from the first chapter, as well as another look into army life.
Your left, your right,
Your left, your right.
You’re out of sight,
You’re dynamite.
And it won’t be long
Till you get back home.
~U.S Army Marching Cadence
This stanza represents the end of the book. I can totally see why the author would put this particular quote into the book because it really symbolizes that the main characters journey through the hardships of West Point is done, and she can go home again. Even though by then, she doesn’t want to go home. She’d rather stay with Third Platoon, her squad mates. The sentence, “Your left, your right” is apart of an army march. Throughout the book, Andi is marching, listening to these words. And at the end of the book, she continues to march to these words as she goes into the stadium to meet her parents again.
Never Surrender
This has been said throughout the entire book. When Andi is at a part in her West Point life when she just wants to quit and go home, her squad leader Cadet Daily gives her a sort of pep talk and says, “Never Surrender”. In my opinion, this quote represents the entire book. While other people gave up, Andi get marching on, not letting the worst things get to her. Even though she wanted to quit at some points, she continued marching on. Never surrendering. Though she was a girl, and that set her back at West Point, she never let her gender hold her back, and kept pushing on. She didn’t surrender to her gender. When one of her squad mates, Hickman, began telling her she couldn’t do what he could, she proved him wrong and won a competition that only a select few in West Point can win.
She didn’t surrender.
This quote, in my opinion, not only applies to the harshness of the army, but applies to real life as well. For instance, if someone was bullying you, or if you were going through family troubles, thinking “Never Surrender” to yourself can truly make a difference between life, and death. If someone were to tell a person “Never Surrender”, if they were having a bad day, that may’ve saved their lives.
This book is about overpowering weakness and not letting your troubles lead your life. It’s about perseverance, courage, and strength. These are key attributes that people need to know how to do, it could very well keep you from suicide. Never surrender, as they say in the army... And as I’m saying now. Don’t surrender to the things bringing you down. Fight!
