Ironically, Ishmael’s migraine headaches cease when his time is structured by “soldierly” activities, including the use of marijuana, “brown brown” (cocaine mixed with gunpowder), and addictive amphetamines. This combination of drugs causes the author to feel numbness and to experience insomnia for weeks on end. The boys watch violent movies at night, hoping to emulate Rambo’s techniques in battle. When they run out of supplies, the unit raids rebel camps and civilian villages. The lieutenant retaliates against a rebel who kills one of his men during an attack by slitting the rebel’s throat with a bayonet.

Ishmael notes that many command decisions appear to be arbitrary. For example, on one occasion, the lieutenant forces civilian villagers to listen to a long, rambling speech highlighting the service that his troops perform for the country. He notes that they are “not like the rebels […] who kill people for no reason” (123). Conversely, a degree of sadism is now present in daily operations. For example, the author and four other boys are selected to participate in a contest. The boy who kills his rope-bound victim the fastest will win the contest. Ishmael, who perceives his prisoner as “simply another rebel who was responsible for the death of my family” (124), is declared the winner of the contest.