Chapter Seven Summary

Now a prisoner awaiting trial, Eugene vociferously reads old issues of the Tarkington College school newspaper to relieve his boredom. He finds an account of a bomber pilot from the college who flew his plane loaded with bombs into the side of a Japanese carrier, thus inflicting severe damage to the enemy. Eugene laments that he served during Vietnam, where such acts were few and far between. He wishes he had died a glorious death in battle like the Tarkington College student he has discovered in the paper's old accounts. Instead, Eugene's service had been marred with personal shame and defeat. Feeling that he is being too dark for the reader, Eugene lightens the mood and tells how he loves to play the chapel bells located on campus. Before they were set to an electronic program, Eugene explains he would passionately...