Where Have You Gone Charming Billy?

The setting of this excerpt is a warzone at night. This can be seen by use of terms like "Platoon" and "Soldiers", as well as passages like "The black plastic stock of his rifle" and "The primitive stealth of warefare." The mood is very dark and gloomy, using words such "Shadows," "Black," "Died," and "Dark" multiple times each. It changes in Berlin's final paragraph, however, to optimistic and rather comforting, with passages like "He would bathe in the sea" and "It would be better." This makes us symparhize with PFC Paul Berlin, as we can see the dismal setting he is being forced to live in, as well as his optimistic nature, thinking that things will surely get better, despite the horrors he's been through in just his first day at war . We then begin to like Berlin, which is typically quite important for a protagonist.