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Charlie In A Soldier's Tale

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In the novel 'A Soldiers Tale' by M.K Joseph, the actions and dialogue of Charlie and Harry Berry help contribute to our understanding of Saul Scourby's ideologies and themes of the novel. They help us understand Saul through his actions and reactions to them and how he views them.

Charlie contributes to our understanding of Saul by acting as a constant companion and helper. He is portrayed as an innocent man throughout the novel in comparison with Saul who has been hardened by war. At the beginning of the novel the Bombardier alludes to this by mentioning that Saul, unlike Charlie, “would have been very bad indeed to have as an enemy”. This suggests that Charlie is not as dangerous or as lethal as Saul. Charlie acts as a character that nobody …show more content…

Harry Berry was a sergeant that Saul went on patrol with early in the war. Saul says that he doesn't want to have feelings about killing, whether positive or negative. He states that “It's like a job to be done. The less feelings you have, the better it's done, the quicker it's done.” This shows that despite Saul's sometimes violent nature that he does not actually like to, or enjoy, hurting people. While on patrol one day with Harry, Saul spotted a German soldier and proceeded to sneak up on him to kill him. However, Saul slipped and alerted the German. Harry Berry saved Saul's life by breaking the German's neck from behind. Later, when Saul thanked Harry, Harry told Saul to forget about it and then said that “when I took him, it excited me, and I come in my pants, just like in a woman.” After Harry said this to Saul, Saul “disliked him more than ever” and viewed him as a “dirty bastard”, even though he saved Saul's life. Saul was so disgusted by Harry that he even managed to avoid going out on any more patrols with him later. Saul's reaction to Harry's enjoyment of killing shows that Saul still has a morale, despite killing so many people. This highlights the fact that Saul himself, still has standards that he abides by and that Saul is still a human with

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