Everything stinks: creosote, bleach, disinfectant, soil, blood, gangrene. The military authorities say uniforms must be preserved at all costs, but that means manhandling patients who are in agony. Cut them off, says Sister Byrd, and she's the voice of authority here, in the Salle d' Attente, not some gold-braid-encrusted crustacean miles away from blood and pain, so cut they do, snip, snip, snip, snip, as close to the skin as they dare. On either side of Paul as he cuts are two long rows of feet: yellow, strong, calloused, scarred where blisters have formed and burst repeatedly. Since August they've done a lot of marching, these feet, and all their marching has brought them to this one place. Pat Barker
About This Quote

In the beginning of this quote, Sister Byrd tells a hospital patient that the smell of disinfectant is unbearable. She also states that if you cut him or her off from being the person they have been, they would be forced to become someone else. Refusing to accept yourself as you were means sacrificing what makes you unique and special so that you can become someone else.

Source: Life Class

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