Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk: Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

As Billy grabs a plate and takes in the sight of the sixty-foot-long buffet, he feels as though he's going to be sick. The "club" is where the country club crowd spends the day at the game, though the room is horrendously decorated and looks more like a 1970s hotel than an expensive club. The place makes Billy feel horrible, and he thinks he's allergic to rich people. When Bravo entered the club, the patrons rose and applauded. The manager, a disgustingly greasy man, shows Bravo to their table. The rich civilians’ stares make Billy feel woozy, but a glance from Dime settles him.

After Bravo is settled, Josh announces he has to leave. He jokingly promises to try to get the Bravos lap dances from the cheerleaders before he slips away. Dime tells the Bravos that each soldier can have one beer with lunch. Billy sits near Dime and Albert so that he can listen to their conversation and hopefully learn something. Before he starts eating, he thinks about where Shroom and Lake would sit. Billy considers the other rituals he follows, and reasons that none of them matter since everything in life seems random. He remembers standing guard once and feeling a pop on his nose—it was a bullet that barely missed him.

Billy muses that dodging bullets in Iraq and the memories in his head feel more real than eating in Texas. He thinks of Lake and his two missing legs, but Dime calls Billy's attention back to lunch. Albert declares that he'll miss Bravo, and Crack urges Albert to visit them in Iraq. Albert objects and admits that the only reason he went to law school was to escape going to Vietnam. He remarks on the hypocrisy of the fact that all those in charge of the war—Bush, Cheney, Rove—all got out of military service. Albert declares that these politicians should be just as protective today's young men as they were with themselves.

When Albert first contacted Bravo, they were confused. When they researched Albert, they discovered that he'd won three Best Picture Oscars and produced one of the greatest flops of all time. In the present, Albert watches as patrons of the club stop to pay their respects and marvels at the fact that everybody loves Bravo. He explains that the studios are pushing back on the film because they don't understand what Bravo went through. When his phone buzzes, Albert picks up and says immediately that Hilary is interested. The conversation then turns to the political nature of the film. Albert insists that this movie must be political, and further, that the politics of this particular film are about making people feel good about America.

As Albert hangs up, he explains that accountants run Hollywood these days and promises to secure funding for the film no matter what. Billy and some of the other Bravos go back to the buffet for seconds, and patrons wave them to the front of the line. Billy's hangover is better, and now when he looks at the food, it looks luxurious. He reasons that the point of civilization is beautiful food and private bathrooms. Bravo starts giggling as they walk back to their table, but Dime angrily shushes them when they arrive. They soon learn that Dime is angry because Universal Studios verbally committed to the film, provided that the story relocates to World War II.

Billy thinks about what once Shroom said about Dime—that he's a master of the psyche—and again loses himself in thinking about how Shroom spent his leisure time smoking and reading. Shroom and Dime seemed to know everything about each other, which puzzled Billy, and Shroom would tell everyone that he loved them before they went outside the wire (off the base). Again, Billy fixates on how Shroom foretold his death and remembers shooting at the insurgents while trying to administer first aid to Shroom.

Dime begins snapping at Bravos for no apparent reason when Albert passes him the phone to read an outlandish text from someone in Hollywood. Dime asks if they're screwed, and Albert explains that Hollywood is like the court of Louis XIV in that you can't go straight to the king; you have to get someone else's support first.

An old man stops by to thank the Bravos for their service. He tells them about his oil company's new technology, explaining that he's trying to bring as much oil production home so that America can bring soldiers home faster. Then, the man asks the soldiers "how we're doing over there." Dime brightly replies that it's a mind-altering experience but insists that the Bravos love the violence. The man seems to deflate as Dime continues to expound on the Bravos' love of violence and their ability to efficiently kill, closing by telling the man to stick to his job, and his men will stick to theirs. The man shuffles away as the Bravos snicker, and Billy thinks that people shouldn't talk about what they don't know. Albert suggests that Dime look into acting after he gets out of the military.

Dime berates Billy some more, and Billy recalls the day that Lake was injured. Billy had lost all composure, and Dime shoved him in a supply closet. Dime cried with Billy, and after a minute, Dime said he was proud of Billy and kissed him on the mouth. Billy's lips were sore for days after, and Dime never mentioned the event. He wonders how that moment will play out in the movie if Hillary Swank plays both Dime and Billy.

Dime orders another round of beers, and Billy decides to find the restroom. As he washes his hands, he remembers a childhood classmate who acted strangely after surviving a car crash that killed two of his friends. He always did strange things, and nobody questioned him. Billy often thinks about him when he looks in the mirror these days.

In the hallway, Billy runs into Mango and a waiter. Both look suspicious, and Mango invites Billy to smoke marijuana with them. The waiter, Hector, leads them to a hidden outdoor deck. As they pass the joint around, Hector asks if they're concerned about passing drug tests, and Mango jokes that it's not like they can threaten to send them back to Iraq. When Hector very seriously says that the Army wouldn't do such a thing, Billy and Mango exchange a glance before explaining that they're already scheduled to return. Hector seems genuinely scandalized. He asks about the potential movie and starts to ask what happens if they die in Iraq. They pass the joint around again, and Billy feels as though the war is distant.

Hector asks if Bravo is going to meet Destiny's Child, and Mango laments that nobody has told them anything—they don't even know if they'll get to meet the cheerleaders. Hector insists that everyone meets the cheerleaders and says that they should absolutely get to meet Destiny's Child. Billy wonders if he'd have sex with Beyoncé given the chance but decides he'd rather hang out, get to know her, and have sex. He wonders if the war has made him more interested in the "entire-body-soul connect," or if he's just getting older.

Hector mentions that he's thinking of joining the Army, explaining that he has a daughter whose mother doesn't work and neither of his jobs provide insurance. He says that the Army is offering a $6,000 enlistment bonus and insurance. Billy is pained to learn that the Army is offering bonuses to others when they got him for free. They all decide that the Army sucks, but Mango remarks that life won't be much better when he gets out.