Question

The question below refers to the selection "Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?": What is unique about Paul’s situation among his fellow soldiers? a. This march is his first war experience. b. He sacrifices his own life to save theirs. c. His father had not wanted him to be a soldier. d. He is the only one who did not know Billy personally.

Answer 1

Answer:

a. This march is his first war experience.

Explanation:

In Tim O'Brien's short story "Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?", the protagonist Private First Class Paul Berlin is part of the soldiers during the Vietnam War. The short story mainly dwells on the one experience of how he finds the death of his fellow soldier Billy funny and even though it made for a good war-time joke.

While it is true that he did not know Billy personally, that cannot be an unique quality of Paul for there is no certainty whether other soldiers all knew him. But one thing unique about Paul's situation among the other soldiers is that this is his first war experience. This can be seen in his conversation with Toby, who asked him if he was "the new guy". The narrator states "he did not want to admit it, being new to the war" which shows that Paul was indeed new to the war experience.