Billy's Innocence and the Stripping Away of it Through War

Bethany Douglas

Early in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk we learn that Billy is a virgin. This tactic incites in us the understanding that Billy portrays American innocence, a fact further exemplified by his desire for both an emotional and physical connection, "He'd like to hang with Beyonce in a nice way, get to know her by doing small pleasant things together like playing board games and going out for ice cream... and possibly fall in love, and meanwhile fuck each other's brains out in their spare time. He wants both, he wants the entire body-soul connection because anything less is just demeaning" (71-72). The "body-soul" connection is a desire young people are supposed to obtain early on, sex just for sex is demeaning, but sex because of love is meaningful and worthy. Billy also states about his desire for the body-soul connection, "Has the war done this to him, he wonders, inspired these deeper sensitivities and yearnings of his? Or is it just because he's going on the twentieth year of his life?" (72). I would argue, within the framework of this novel, this desire comes from his understanding of what he should be as portrayed by American idealism, an ideal soldier that Billy becomes whenever he is confronted with "fans."
Furthermore, Billy's innocence is shown to be stripped away to some degree by the war during his visit home. If Billy's virginity is a representation of American innocence then Billy's attraction to his sister is a representation of his innocence being stripped away through the war. His sister Kathryn shares the most radical views (save, perhaps, for Billy) in their family about the war, and every time she discusses it with Billy he at some point thinks of his attraction to her. Most people view incest as a taboo, the fact that it even exists is largely hidden away to avoid uncomfortable conversations and thoughts. However, here Billy thinks several times of his sister as someone he's attracted to, "And today, what could be more perfect than lying in the sun, drinking beer with an extremely hot blonde in a bikini? The only problem, of course, being that the girl was his sister, but what was the harm in pretending for a few short hours?" (96). While Billy does not act on any of these feelings, their mere presence contradicts with the idealized version we hold not only for soldiers but also for brothers and young men, while Billy maintains his innocence pre-war, he becomes a contradiction to that innocence upon his return home from the war. This fact is also exemplified by Kathryn's constant discussion of the war, and she being the one Billy is attracted to, she represents his fall from innocence during, and directly because of, the war.