The Language of Johnny Mad Dog

As I've read through Johnny Mad Dog, there have been several passages that have caught my attention and I feel have helped me to understand the main characters better (Laokole and Johnny).

The first passage is used is by Johnny after his fellow soldier Gator was killed by their Commander, Giap. Giap had just chosen the 4 division leaders of the Commando units and Gator thought that Giap should monetarily reimburse them for their time and effort. Gator tried to begin a revolution, however, in order to deal with the disrespect, Giap shot Gator. In response to the killing of one of his best friends, Johnny says , "Really, people are awful. They have no heart." (p 44). From reading others' blogs about this book, it seems like the general concensus is that Johnny is ignorant and prideful, however, this little comment made me see him as real, a real boy with real genuine feelings.

Later on, this same comment reappeared. This time it is said by Laokole. Johnny's fellow soldiers have just taken over the 4x4 of Melanie's family and were chasing the refugees. One of them had seen a little boy with gun and they stopped to get the gun from the boy who they thought was a Chechen. When they stopped, they shot the boy while Laokole and her mother were hiding behind a wall or flower hedge. Just as Johnny was torn up by the killing of Gator, Laokole is devastated by the death of this child that she didn't even know. She repeats what Johnny said, "Really, people are awful. They have no heart."

I just think it is interesting that these two sentences are repeated in the book and I'm wondering if they are repeated at all later on in the book. I guess I'll just have to keep reading.