"Nobody's fault...everybody's." (page 176)

"When a man died, there had to be blame. Jimmy Cross understood this. You could blame the war. You could blame the idiots who made the war. You could blame Kiowa for going to it. You could blame the rain. You could blame the river. You could blame the field, the mud, the climate. You could blame the enemy. You could blame the mortar rounds. You could blame people who were too lazy to read a newspaper, who were bored by the daily body counts, who switched channels at the mention of politics. You could blame whole nations. You could blame God. You could blame the munitions makers or Karl Marx or a trick of fate or an old man in Omaha who forgot to vote.

In the field, though, the causes were immediate. A moment of carelessness or bad judgement or plain stupidity carried consequences that lasted forever" (page 177).

Although this quote is rather long, I thought it was important to include all of it. By writing the entire quote, it shows the number of people who could be blamed for the war. However, no one actually deserves the blame. It is not one single person's fault for such things; everyone is to blame. It is because of everyone and everything that this happens; not just because of one simple action that was taken. Therefore, the blame cannot be placed on a single person or thing.

After Kiowa's death, the other soldiers began to blame themselves for it. Some of them kept quiet about it, and they just thought to themselves. Others admitted what they had done and how they were to blame for what happened. Norman Bowker felt responsible because he was unable to save Kiowa. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross felt responsible for setting up camp in the field instead of moving to higher ground for the night. The young soldier felt responsible for turning on his flashlight to show Kiowa a picture. Azar felt guilty for making jokes about his death. Everyone felt as though they were somehow responsible for Kiowa's death, and they should be blamed for it. His death was "nobody's fault...everybody's" (page 176).