Truely American By Jacob Nolin

Billy finds himself in the company of rich people and feels out of place. They are described by Fountain as such.

"If they aren't quite as flawlessly handsome as models or movie actors, they certainly possess the vitality and style of, say, the people in a Viagra advertisement. Special time with Bravo is just one of the multitude of pleasures available to them, and thinking about it makes Billy somewhat bitter. It's not that he's jealous so much as profoundly terrified. Dread of returning to Iraq equals the direst poverty and that's how he feels right now, poor, like a shabby homeless kid suddenly thrust into the company of millionares" (114).

Here Fountain's words are able to contrast both well- off people and poor individuals. Words like "vitality", "multitude of pleasures", and "company of millionares" put these rich people at the pinnacle of society. Fountain is able to show variety between these rich people in the first line which allows him to make them feel like a varied elite group. These wealthy people could not contrast anymore than with Billy here. Fountain described him as "bitter, terrified, and "like a shabby homelesss kid." This language is straightforward in it's image, but it creates another contrast here that doesn't invole money or class as greatly.

Fountain giving Billy these thoughts shows his internal conflict. He does not see the role of a soldier as heroic or even "American", instead these people are the real Americans, the models and stars and actors who live in a paradise as opposed to the soldier who fights under the flag and is in fear of death every day. Such a contrast is powerful because it shows that even with Billy's status as a soldier he will never be as "American" as these rich people. Instead he will simply be a soldier. This is ironic because war movies depicting American soldiers as herioc are often done using actors and models who are as affluent and well off as the ones that Billy is talking to.