The soldier in white was constructed entirely of gauze, plaster and a thermometer, and the thermometer was merely an adornment left balanced in the empty dark hole in the bandages over his mouth each morning and afternoon by Nurse Cramer, right up to the afternoon Nurse Cramer read the thermometer and discovered he was dead. Now that Yossarian looked back, it seemed that Nurse Cramer had murdered the soldier in white. If she had not read the thermometer and reported what she had found, the soldier in white might still be lying there alive exactly as he had been lying there all along, encased from head to toe in plaster. Lying there that way might not have been much of a life, but it was all the life he had, and the decision to end it, Yossarian felt, should hardly have been Nurse Cramer’s.
The soldier in white was like an unrolled bandage with a hole in it and no sound at all came from him all the time he was there. Yossarian resented the soldier in white for reminding him of a nauseating truth.
Nurse Cramer kept him spick-and-span. She brushed his bandages and scrubbed his plaster casts. She wiped the dust every day from the black rubber tubes leading in and out of him to the large jars hanging on a post by his bed. She was proud of her housework. Nurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant complexion dotted with adorable freckles that Yossarian detested. Her virtuous, blue eyes 39.flooded with tears on unexpected occasions and made Yossarian mad.
40.‘How the hell do you know he’s even in there?’ he asked her.
‘Don’t you dare talk to me that way!’ she replied indignantly.
‘Well, how do you? You don’t even know if it’s really him.’
‘Who?’
‘Whoever’s supposed to be in all those bandages. How do you know he’s even alive?’
‘What a terrible thing to say!’ Nurse Cramer exclaimed. ‘Now you get right into bed and stop
making jokes.’
‘I’m not making jokes. Anybody might be in there.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Nurse Cramer pleaded with him in a quavering voice.
‘Maybe that’s where the dead man is.’
‘What dead man?’
‘I’ve got a dead man in my tent that nobody can throw out.’
Nurse Cramer turned to Dunbar desperately for help. ‘Make him stop saying things like that,’ she begged.
‘Maybe there’s no one inside,’ Dunbar suggested helpfully. ‘Maybe they just sent the bandages here
for a joke.’
She stepped away from Dunbar in alarm. ‘You’re crazy,’ she cried, glancing about imploringly. ‘You’re both crazy.’
59.Nurse Cramer read her thermometer and discovered to her horror that the soldier in white was dead.
A1. Look at lines 1-14.
Explain why Yossarian chooses to stay in the hospital. [10]
A2. Look at lines 15-39.
What are Yossarian’s thoughts and feelings in these lines?
Think about:
• his attitude to the hospital;
• his attitude to the soldier in white;
• his attitude to Nurse Cramer. [10]
A3. Look at lines 40-59.
Nurse Cramer is upset in these lines. How does the writer show that she is upset?
Look at:
• what happens;
• the writer’s choice of words and phrases. [10]
Answers:
A1:
Yossarian chose to stay in the hospital because he could relax there. The quote ‘he could relax in the hospital’ shows this. He also chose to stay in the hospital because he felt hospital life was easy. The quote ‘All he was expected to do was die or get better’ and ‘getting better was easy’ shows that Yossarian liked the fact he didn’t have to do anything other than ‘die’ or ‘get better’. This quote also shows that Yossarian likes the fact that he is in hospital shown by ‘since he was perfectly alright, getting better was easy’. He also chose to stay in the hospital because he felt safer there than at war. The quote being in hospital was better than being shot at over Italy and France’. This quote could also indicate Yossarian is scared of going back out to war.
The fact Yossarian lists ways that you could die in the war indicates that he chose to stay in the hospital because he doesn’t want to die like that. For example the quote ‘crude,ugly dying’ shows that dying in the war is worse than dying in the hospital where death is ‘neat and orderly’.
A2:
I get the impression that even though Yossarian would prefer to be in the hospital. He thinks it is not the ideal place for him. The quotes ‘Staff tended to be bossy and the rules were restrictive’ show that Yossarian feels that the hospital is not the perfect place in the world. Also, the fact that Yossarian was forced to admit the ‘hospital had altered for the worse’ shows that Yossarian would like to think the hospital is good, he resigns himself to the fact it isn’t because of the war. Also Yossarian doesn’t like the fact he isn’t surrounded by’young and lively people’. This shows that Yossarian doesn’t feel the hospital caters to his needs.
Yossarian could feel fascinated by the soldier in white because he always kept up to date with his condition. The fact he remembers the exact time he dies; ‘up to the afternoon read the thermometer and discovered he was dead’ suggests that he was interested by the soldier in white because he remembers it was in the afternoon he died. Yossarian also feels sympathy for the soldier in white because he feels he did not have much of a life. The quote ‘Lying there might not have been much of a life’ shows that he feels sorry the soldier in white wasn’t enjoying his life in hospital.
Yossarian feels a sense of resentment to Nurse Cramer because he felt she chose when the soldier in white died. The quote ‘the decision to end it, should hardly have been Nurse Cramer’ suggests that Yossarian is angry with Nurse Cramer because he feels she chose when the soldier in white should have died. This could also show that Yossarian is scared that Nurse Cramer could choose when he dies. The quote ‘Yossarian resented the soldier in white for reminding him of a nauseating truth’ backs this theory up because Yossarinan feels the soldier in white could have easily been him.
Yossarian also feels that the Nurse Cramer didn’t respect the soldier in white. The reason why Yossarian could think this is because he thinks Nurse Cramer sees him as her ‘Housework’ and Keeps him ‘Spick and Span’ so she can be proud of it.
A3:
Nurse Cramer feels insulted by Yossarian when he asks about the soldier in white. The word ‘hell’ shows when he was aggressive when asking. The fact the writer uses the word ‘indignantly’ shows that the nurse was angry in her response to Yossarian. The fact that Yossarian was asking questions made Nurse Cramer upset because she didn’t know the answers. For example, the fact she doesn’t reassure Yossarian that someone was in the bandages shows that she was unsure herself.
Nurse Cramer gets upset when Yossarian ignores her and carry’s talking about the soldier in white. The fact that the writer uses the quote ‘quavering voice’ after she tells Yossarian to stop making jokes indicates she feels intimidated and undermined. The fact she ‘desperately turned to Dunbar for help’ indicates she felt like she couldn’t control Yossarian. Nurse Cramer was upset with Dunbar for agreeing with Yossarian. This could indicate she felt Ganged up on. This lead to her feeling angry with Yossarian and Dunbar shown by the fact she calls them both crazy because they doubt that the soldier in white is really alive. The fact that the soldier in white had died could show she was upset with the Yossarian because he was right. The writer uses the word ‘horror’ to show how shocked Nurse Cramer was when she found out that the soldier in white had died.
