In this torrent of passions; uncontrollable thoughts raced through their minds. They ha seen their officers take a walk or break or just cower, or go mute (as Lieutenant Dike was at this moment of crisis). If they did not have the option to walk away, they did have the option of not leading. No one could force them to do so. (210)
I briefly considered writing about the paragraph preceding this one, as both dealt with the effect of the horrors of war, yet I decided against it as I found I could not relate to it. Instead I choose this one. The issue it brings up is a harsh reality: no matter how well trained or prepared we are, nothing is certain until we're in the thick of it. In the case of leadership we see that natural leading abilities do not always translate from the drawing room to the real world. The critical moment when we step into the action can either make, or as illustrated by this passage, break a man.
