Question

Which sentences in this excerpt from John Steinbeck's "Symptoms" address the theme of soldiers being reluctant to talk about their experiences in war?

If they had been reticent men it would have been different, but some of them were talkers and some were even boasters. They would discuss their experiences right up to the time of battle and then suddenly they wouldn't talk anymore. This was considered heroic in them. It was thought that they had seen or done was so horrible that they didn't want to bring it back to haunt them or their listeners. But many of these men had no such consideration in any other field.

Only recently have I found what seems to be a reasonable explanation, and the answer is simple. They did not and do not remember--and the worse the battle was, the less they remember.

Answer 1

The sentences in the excerpt from John Steinbeck's 'Symptoms' that address soldiers being reluctant to talk about their experiences in war discuss the sudden silence of some talkative soldiers and the role of memory in forgetting their experiences.

Step-by-step explanation:

The sentences in the excerpt that address the theme of soldiers being reluctant to talk about their experiences in war are:

1. If they had been reticent men it would have been different, but some of them were talkers and some were even boasters. They would discuss their experiences right up to the time of battle and then suddenly they wouldn't talk anymore. This was considered heroic in them. It was thought that they had seen or done was so horrible that they didn't want to bring it back to haunt them or their listeners.
2. Only recently have I found what seems to be a reasonable explanation, and the answer is simple. They did not and do not remember--and the worse the battle was, the less they remember.

Answer 2

The sentences which express the reluctance of the soldiers to talk about their experience in war are as follows:
1. If they had been reticent men it would have been different, but some of them were talkers and some were even boasters.
2. They would discuss their experiences right up to the time of battle and then suddenly they wouldn't talk anymore.
3. It was thought that what they had seen or done was so horrible that they didn't want to bring it back to haunt them or their listeners. But many of these men had no such consideration in any other field.
The three sentence given above show that the men of war who are been discussed in the passage are not interested in sharing their experience in the war field, they always become mute when it comes to discussing the happenings of the war.